{"id":312292,"date":"2026-02-02T12:01:53","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T12:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=312292"},"modified":"2026-02-16T13:33:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T13:33:57","slug":"resist-and-build-alternatives-to-the-trump-regime-now-intro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2026\/02\/resist-and-build-alternatives-to-the-trump-regime-now-intro\/","title":{"rendered":"Resist and Build Alternatives to the Trump Regime Now (Intro)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Introduction to TFF\u2019s Forthcoming Five Idea Portfolios of Diplomatic and Nonviolent Resistance<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica, you are too arrogant.\u201d <\/em>
\n\u2014 Martin Luther King Jr.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

19 Jan 2026 – <\/em>Over the course of Trump\u2019s first term and now a year into his second, the world has witnessed a consistent pattern of actions that challenge the basic long-standing norms of international cooperation, weaken multilateral institutions, and ignore the global norms and legal frameworks established by the UN Charter.<\/p>\n

During these years, we have witnessed military operations in Iran, Syria and Ukraine without UN authorisation; the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani; repeated strikes across the Middle East; and the launch of tariff wars against allies and competitors alike. We have seen a renewed emphasis on nuclearism and zero interest in arms control and disarmament negotiations. Pentagon is now The Depart of War.<\/p>\n

We have seen travel bans targeting entire nationalities; visa denials for diplomats meant to attend UN meetings; and threats to withdraw from NATO while demanding that allies spend 5% of their GDP on the military without any shared threat analysis. We have also witnessed systematically confrontational policies and orchestrated and well-financed media campaigns directed against China and other actors.<\/p>\n

U.S. policies have involved unwavering support for Israel\u2019s devastating genocidal military campaign in Gaza; recognition of Juan Guaid\u00f3 as \u201cpresident\u201d of Venezuela and the kidnapping of Nicolas Maduro with spouse as well as taking control over Venezuelan state assets; hard pressure on Ukraine to de facto let go of its natural resources; withdrawal from the JCPOA with Iran; and public statements about acquiring territories such as Canada, Mexico, Cuba, and Greenland \u2014 the latter being an integral part of Denmark, a loyal U.S. ally since 1948.<\/p>\n

The rhetoric surrounding these actions has been confrontational, personalised as arrogant or vulgar, and consistently dismissive of international law. Domestically, Trump has dismissed officials, centralised executive power, and pursued a \u201claw and order\u201d agenda that cannot help but raise profound concerns about democratic norms inside the United States itself. It is not only warfare on most of the world; it is also a domestic war.<\/p>\n

The speed, surprise, and scale of these actions \u2014 combined with the near absence of meaningful international countermeasures \u2014 is likely to create the dangerous illusion within the Trump Regime circles: that such behaviour carries no cost, that it can continue indefinitely, and that the world will simply adjust to whatever it does next. Most likely, Trump thinks to himself – I can obviously get away with doing what I want – and I will.<\/p>\n

Europe – fragmented, submissive, and visionless – has shown little willingness or ability to respond beyond words, and more words. Instead of developing a creative alternative West, European leader travel physically or mentally to sit at the feet of the Emperor.<\/p>\n

Military confrontation is neither realistic nor desirable, yet eminently productive tools such as diplomacy, conflict resolution, and concrete nonviolent measures have barely been considered. The result is paralysis \u2014 and paralysis invites escalation.<\/p>\n

We believe this moment demands something different. Not passivity. Not fear. Not the old reflex of waiting for a \u201cbetter\u201d post-Trump America.<\/p>\n

We demand – and propose – diplomatic and other nonviolent resistance<\/strong> \u2014 principled, lawful, creative, and global with the aim of stopping the Trump Regime from doing more harm to humanity.<\/p>\n

What will follow this introduction, therefore, is four portfolios of immediate and long-term measures<\/em> that governments, institutions, and citizens can take to signal boundaries, impose costs, and demonstrate that even the most militarily powerful state operates within limits.<\/p>\n

None of these proposals is military, coercive, or vengeful. They are grounded in international law, civic mobilisation, economic sovereignty, and the collective strength of global civil society. But, yes, they require civil courage and a will to do some new thinking. The situation seems to make both imperative.<\/p>\n

TFF\u2019s four idea portfolios would imply the most far-reaching nonviolent resistance to U.S. policy since 1945.<\/p>\n

It is necessary because the belief that the United States is inherently a force for good in our world \u2014 or that Trump is an aberration \u2014 has become a dangerous illusion. The elites inside the US Military-Industrial-Media-Academic Complex, MIMAC, feed him so that he can serve them.<\/p>\n

Likewise, it is delusional to hope for the \u2018good old America\u2019 to return after Trump\u2019s second (or third) term. His destruction of the US will be beyond repair. Furthermore, his personal style is indeed special, but he operates fully within the parameters of the US Empire and how an empire behaves when its decline and fall become more and more clear to itself and the rest of the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

The world cannot rely on nostalgia or wishful thinking. One may paraphrase a thinker reflecting on the Second World War: those who sleep in times of peace and democracy may well wake up in a dictatorship at war.<\/p>\n

TFF insists that better paths exist \u2014 grounded in creativity, nonviolence, and international law. We insist that there is a huge spectrum of possible actions between fighting the US militarily and doing nothing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

We therefore publish these Four Idea Portfolios of Resistance<\/strong>, followed by a vision for transforming the Arctic into a Zone of Cooperation<\/strong> that benefits local communities, the region, and the world.<\/p>\n

Please look out for these five TFF documents in the near future.<\/p>\n

If you find them useful and necessary, please share them widely so that we can build critical nonviolent mass for resistance<\/em> and thereby promote a future with much more justice, peace and respect for global norms and laws. The implementation of at least some of these ideas will also enable the world to again dialogue about solutions to humanity\u2019s real and very urgent problems and reduce the attention to destructive Trumped-up militarism and imperial narratives.<\/p>\n

The world must act now. The window of action may soon close.<\/p>\n

__________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

READ: <\/strong>PART 1<\/strong><\/a> – PART 2<\/a> – PART 3<\/a> – PART 4 – PART 5<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prof. Jan Oberg, Ph.D. is director of the independent <\/em>Transnational Foundation for Peace & Future Research-TF<\/a>F<\/a> in Sweden and a member of the <\/em>TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a>. CV: <\/em>https:\/\/transnational.live\/jan-oberg<\/em><\/a>
\n<\/em>https:\/\/transnational.live<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> Biljana Vankovska – Professor of political science and international relations at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Macedonia, TFF board member, No Cold War collective member, peace activist, leftist, columnist, 2024 presidential candidate.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Go to Original – thetransnational.substack.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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