Trump vowed to make the world safer - has he?
2 days ago
Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent, BBC News
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When Donald Trump was sworn in as US president for a second time in January, he made a promise. "My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier," he told his audience at home and far beyond.
Then, a little more than a hundred days on, during his first foreign tour – which took him to three wealthy Arab states – he boasted that he was making good on that vow. "I will tell you that the world is a much safer place right now," he said in reference to Ukraine. "I think in two or three weeks we can have a much safer place."
But how much progress is the self-styled "world's best peacemaker" really making? Is Trump turning the world into a safer, or a more dangerous, place?
There are many angles to the answer.
It is difficult to ignore the reality on the ground in perhaps the world's two most prominent conflicts.
President Trump boasts that he is the only one who can reach a deal with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin - but Russia is now pounding Ukraine with the largest number of drones and missiles since its full-scale invasion in 2022.
And he has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in Gaza, but this week staff at the Red Cross Field Hospital say they are receiving the highest number of weapons-wounded patients since they established their clinic more than a year ago.
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On other fronts, however, there are some glimmers of light in the dark.
Nuclear talks between the US and Iran are underway, pushed by an American president who insists that he wants to reach a good deal and avert a bad destructive war.
The next round of those talks, mediated by Oman, is expected to take place on Sunday, although there is intense speculation that Israel may be preparing its own military strikes on Iran.
Syria has more of a fighting chance to tackle dangerous internal tensions, as well as deep poverty, after President Trump suddenly announced last month that punishing sanctions on the country would be lifted on the urging of his Saudi ally.
"It's the worst of times and the best of times," David Harland, executive director of the Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, told me. "There are now more wars than ever in the world, but more conflicts are on the negotiating table and some are moving forward."
There is truth in Trump's claim that only he can bring some players to talk peace. He is the only world leader that Putin and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, among others, know they need to listen to – or else.
"You bet, they're scared of him," said K. T. Mcfarland, Trump's former deputy national security adviser who will join a BBC World Service debate on whether the president is making the world safer or more dangerous that will be broadcast on Friday.
His motto "peace through strength" rests on his belief that his sheer force of personality, bold threats, and direct telephone calls can end wars. He even said he could end wars in a day – but clearly hasn't.
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