Hubris, Then Nemesis

Being blind to the limits of power, seems to come with the territory of having a lot of it. Look at geopolitics  

As it went with tariffs, so it’s going with Iran war: Trump’s ‘my way or the highway’ posture, reduced to a bad joke. On the war front, not only have developments in Iran defied his prognoses, other nations are refusing to fall in line. Spain has nixed the use of military bases located in its territory, for US operations. It’s called the war illegal, and contrary to the interests of humanity. Nato countries are also ignoring his threat of  “a very bad future”, if they don’t send warships to help reopen Strait of Hormuz. Often lackey-like, UK is refusing to be “drawn into the wider war”. Germany’s defence minister has mockingly asked: what does Trump expect from European frigates, since the mighty US navy can’t manage it either. 

With tariffs, Trump ridiculed different countries as pleading to him, “Please, please sir make a deal. I’ll do anything. I’ll do anything, sir.” This haplessness is, of course, not the whole story. China played hardball with its rare earths card. Others showed resilience not so much by resisting power, as rerouting around it, starting to reduce their exposure to Trumpian volatility. Even right now, India is stepping up diplomatic engagement with Iran, to secure its energy supplies through Strait of Hormuz. However much Trump can destroy and dominate, he cannot control outcomes. Or foreclose others’ choices. 

But this is not just about Trump. Being blind to the limits of their power, seems to come with the territory of having a lot of it. Hence, the continuing salience of hubris in different biographies of power. Indira Gandhi pulled off an Emergency, but then was shocked by a dramatic electoral blow. Lance Armstrong was invincible, until he wasn’t. Harvey Weinstein was the king of Hollywood, and then he was in jail. Power doesn’t see reversals coming. Its Goliath cannot see David standing up to it. Just as Trump didn’t see a “fools and lapdogs” (his words, obviously) US Supreme Court giving his tariffs a 6-3 slapdown. 

And still, Trumpismo runs on unrepentant. There is talk of Cuba, now. In ancient Greek thought, hubris is more than arrogance. It isn’t merely a personality flaw, but a violation of cosmic and social order. And its story arc often goes like this: power→hubris→nemesis. History books may tell US, it helped establish democracy in Japan and Germany. But its 21st century regime-change wars – Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan – don’t have such nice giftwrapping. Acting like US has infinite resources, and the ability to impose its will on others, is actually a self-goal. 

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