President Donald Trump’s growing unstable behavior is creating crises with America’s allies, undermining US National Security in massive ways.
The relationship with South Korea, which the US has defended ever since the Korean War, is in crisis as Trump is now calling for cutback in joint security exercises that have protected that nation from the nuclear power next day, North Korea.
The relationship with the Gulf States in the Middle East that are allies against Iran is also being threatened, most recently the threat to attack Oman, but also the growing concern of Saudi Arabia and other nations in the area to the unstable behavior of the American President.
The relationship with Canada is at its lowest point in history, with many Canadians furious at the US attitude toward them that has developed under Donald Trump.
The NATO allies in Europe are alarmed over US belligerence and hostility toward their decision to avoid involvement in the failed Iran War. And the growing threat on oil exploration in Greenland, which is opposed by that nation and its supporter, Denmark, is worrying many about the possibility of warfare between NATO and the United States.
Other nations in Asia, such as Japan, the Philippines, along with Australia and New Zealand, are working to form their own alliances of defense, with the growing lack of trust in American support.
Latin American nations are seeing Trump revive the imperialist past behavior in the hemisphere, including threats to take over the Panama Canal.
The entire international order is being upended in a dangerous manner, with Donald Trump cozying up to authoritarian leaders, including North Korea and its threat to South Korea; China and the threat to Taiwan and other Asian allies; and Russia, in its fifth year of war with Ukraine, a danger to NATO.
The phenomenon refered to as the “Cult of Following,” is where people stop trusting their own eyes. The phenomenon is commonly described by several psychological, sociological, and political concepts. It occurs when group loyalty or devotion to a leader overrides an individual’s objective reality.
This is something that psychologists have documented since the early 1970s. A measurable replicated effect where repetition alone, with zero new evidence, makes a lie feel true.
Here are the primary terms and concepts that describe this behavior.
Psychological and Social Phenomena, The Asch Effect (Conformity)
A psychological phenomenon where individuals ignore obvious physical facts to agree with the majority opinion of a group.
This csn be seen with the, “Deindividuation.” A state where people lose their self-awareness and individual identity, completely absorbing the values and behaviors of a crowd or movement.
When reality contradicts a leader’s claims, followers experience mental discomfort, and “Cognitive Dissonance Resolution.” To fix this, they often choose to deny their own senses rather than admit the leader is wrong.
Social structures where outside voices are actively discredited, making the leader or group the only trusted source of truth.
A situation where a public figure uses mass media, propaganda, and spectacle to create an idealized, heroic image that demands unquestioning loyalty. This is noted as “Epistemic Bubbles, Echo Chambers, Sociological and Political Concepts Cult of Personality!”
Hypernormalization is a term coined by investigator Alexei Yurchak, describing a state where everyone knows a system is failing or fake, but because no one can imagine an alternative, everyone maintains the illusion of reality
Gaslighting (Mass/Systemic): When a dominant figure or group systematically feeds false information to followers, leading them to question their own memory, perception, and sanity.
The Literary Visual Anchor
Orwellian “Doublethink” is named after George Orwell’s novel 1984. This is the act of simultaneously holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind, and accepting both of them. It is perfectly captured by the book’s famous quote: “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”