Inward turn: On the U.S.’s impending plunge into isolationism
The Donald Trump administration has sparked fresh concern on the global stage after it announced through a presidential memorandum that the U.S. would be withdrawing from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, as well as 65 other international organisations and platforms, describing these as contrary to the interests of the United States. Having already pulled out of the Paris climate agreement in his first term, Mr. Trump has now doubled down on plans to end all U.S. commitments to fight climate change by reversing his predecessor Joe Biden’s actions. Washington has made plans for a quick exit mostly from UN-related agencies and advisory panels whose mandate relates to climate and renewable energy, gender equality, minority rights, rule of law and other areas that the Trump administration considers to be supporting diversity and ‘woke’ initiatives.
There is a serious question of real-world impact and damage to the existing order that is engendered by the U.S.’s impending plunge into pure isolationism. The administration’s wholesale rejection, in early 2025, of decades of prior institutional commitments to and engagement with the World Health Organization has already led to setbacks to projects across the developing world that focus on maternal and infant mortality, surveillance, and halting the advance of tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS — all heavily dependent on external funding.
In the climate change, human rights, labour standards and rule of law contexts, the key financing channels and impactful leadership momentum have historically been associated with U.S. institutions. The inevitable vacuum that the Trump White House’s action will produce could actually cede that space to power players such as China and Russia, whose incentives to support a level playing field in coordinated international policies with a strong global footprint may not be aligned with the rest of the democratic world. The world has already been witness, under both Trump administrations, to the deleterious, destabilising consequences of Washington weaponising trade tariffs as means to achieving political goals. Now this small-frame view of national self-interest trumping good governance principles for the global commons may become the modus operandi for the remainder of the 21st century. The very idea of the nation state may face unprecedented challenges as inward orientation in policymaking will build an ever stronger base for rising ethno-nationalism and racist hatred of the “other”. History has shown that this gives free rein to the worst qualities of human nature, with disastrous socio-political consequences.
Synonyms: Pulling out, Exit
Synonyms: Opposite, Adverse
Synonyms: Obligations, Pledges
Synonyms: Authority, Directive
Synonyms: Complete, Total
Synonyms: Generated, Caused
Synonyms: Obstacles, Reversals
Synonyms: Monitoring, Observation
Synonyms: Void, Gap
Synonyms: Surrender, Relinquish
Synonyms: Motivation, Encouragement
Synonyms: Consistent, Harmonised
Synonyms: Harmful, Damaging
Synonyms: Exploiting, Militarising
Synonyms: Method, Procedure
Synonyms: Extraordinary, Unmatched
Synonyms: Racial nationalism, Chauvinism
Synonyms: Full freedom, Liberty
Synonyms: Catastrophic, Ruinous
Young love: On a weaponisation of the POCSO Act
On January 9, the Supreme Court formally acknowledged an issue that legal scholars, child rights experts, and young adults in consensual relationships have long voiced: the menace of the POCSO Act being weaponised by families to punish young persons, but especially young men in romantic relationships with young women. The intervention validates years of alarm over how a statute designed to shield against predatory violence has been subverted into enforcing parental authority and traditional social boundaries. The systemic vulnerability lies within the Act’s inflexible architecture. Scholars have argued that by establishing a rigid age of consent at 18 years and applying strict liability, in which the minor person’s consent is rendered legally irrelevant, POCSO casts an indiscriminate net on those it deems to be offenders.
Together with its stringent provisions and mandatory minimum sentences, which are intended to deter heinous offenders, the Act is easily manipulated by disapproving families. In cases of elopement crossing caste or religious lines, parents often file charges of kidnapping and sexual assault; this triggers the Act if the woman is under 18. As a result, in the current framework, a consensual adolescent relationship is hard to distinguish from coercive abuse, allowing families to use the state’s punitive machinery against partners they consider unsuitable.
The Law Commission of India documented this gap in a 2023 report, in the course of advising against lowering the general age of consent from 18, citing dangers such as trafficking and child marriage. It also highlighted that treating two teenagers being close together with the severity reserved for predatory abuse is counterproductive, and recommended introducing guided judicial discretion in sentencing in cases involving adolescents aged 16-18. Likewise, the Court has ordered that its January 9 judgment be shared with the Law Secretary to endeavour to curb this menace. However, the crisis is made worse by the absence of interventions that are not punitive. When young adults find their personal autonomy at odds with their families’ expectations, they are often left isolated; the problem begins here. There is a lack of confidential counselling services for adolescents navigating relationships and emerging sexuality. Resources to mediate with families struggling with these intergenerational transitions are also virtually non-existent outside of traditional, often conservative, community structures. Until the state invests in bolstering these social services, prioritising education and counselling over invoking a response led by the police, and tweaking the Act to admit this recourse, the legal system will leave young couples vulnerable to familial wrath and prosecutorial overreach.
Synonyms: Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act
Synonyms: Random, Unselective
Synonyms: Exploited, Manipulated
Synonyms: Independence, Self-rule
Synonyms: Controlled judgement, Managed decision
Synonyms: Restrain, Limit
Synonyms: Harmful, Ineffective
Synonyms: Weakness, Exposure
Synonyms: Structure, Framework
Synonyms: Strict, Severe
Synonyms: Horrible, Atrocious
Synonyms: Controlled, Exploited
Synonyms: Alone, Separated
Banking Learners provides expert guidance for IBPS PO, SBI PO, Clerk, and other banking exams. Get study tips, current affairs, and strategies from Banking Learners