It is time world leaders matched Donald Trump’s game | Letters

Jonathan Freedland’s conclusion that Donald Trump’s most recent actions and insults leave the “middle powers” with no option but to strengthen their own defences fits well with the earlier assessments by both Mark Carney and Gordon Brown (As the world finally punches back, was this the week Donald Trump went too far?, 23 January). All three have identified the need for those countries that desire to maintain world peace, promote a collective approach to trade and security, and settle disputes by arbitration, should combine to create a body outside of the sphere of the US, Russia or China.

There is a growing consensus on the need for a non-aligned coalition of the middle powers, and Mark Carney has emerged as the spokesperson able to articulate a platform around which nations of goodwill can cluster.

To begin the walk along this “third path”, as defined by Mark Carney, Keir Starmer and other western leaders must be forthright in convincing their electorates that this venture will need significant long-term investment. It is a rallying cry which can potentially fracture an already sceptical and bruised electorate, and the work must begin now to convince voters that without such an endeavour, their current way of life can not be assured.
Peter Riddle
Wirksworth, Derbyshire

In 1823, William Webb Ellis, frustrated with the constraints of football, picked up the ball and ran. His defiance birthed rugby – a game where the rules were rewritten, and physicality became central. Today, we see Donald Trump doing much the same in politics. Fed up with the established rules, he has picked up the ball and run, not just changing the game but enforcing his own version of it. He also enforces these new rules and positions himself, as the classic bully does, as the referee of the game too, altering the rules to suit as he sees fit.

His opponents, however, are still playing by the old rules. They dangle a foot, hoping to trip him up, or gently tackle with outdated conventions. But rugby isn’t football. The old tactics no longer apply. To stop Trump, his opponents must match his force, wrap their arms around his waist and bring him to the ground. Otherwise, they risk being left behind as the game evolves around them. Mark Carney’s call at Davos for “middle powers” to unite resonates here. Perhaps these nations, locking together like a scrum, could form the barrier needed to halt this free-running disrupter before he causes further carnage on the field of play.
Richard Woolerton
Cosby, Leicestershire

Jonathan Freedland rightly points out that a new world order is possible based on a balance of the “middle powers … of the democratic west”. Freedland was concerned here with international relations; he does not address the problem of how to restore democracy in America. The constitutional principle of “checks and balances” was designed to prevent any one of the three branches of government – legislative, judicial and executive – from overreaching its power.

The Trump power grab has made it clear that this principle is inadequate. In fact, it depends upon consensus, and is no guarantee against someone who does not agree to play by the rules. It has not, for instance, prevented Donald Trump from building a domestic paramilitary force for his own use. No one in America seems to be thinking about the future – everyone is simply reacting to the present.

The best thing that could happen now is a debate – probably initiated by the Democratic party, but ultimately it would need to be non-partisan and with representation from all three branches of government – about whether there is something more durable to replace the checks and balances system, or how to rebuild it with more binding and enforceable powers.
Dr Lorens Holm
Reader emeritus, University of Dundee