Life Must Go On

In fact, the 21st Century Motto is: Let Us Move On.

Six months ago, world leaders were reeling at the news of Donald Trump's election, wondering how they would deal with such a new, unpredictable force in the White House.

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Apart from lashing out at Washington's NATO partners for failing to help the US share the financial burden of the military alliance, Trump angered G7 leaders by telling them he planned to ditch the Paris accord on climate change to which 153 nations had signed on. He did so shortly thereafter.

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But, as this week's Group of 20 summit of major economic powers in Hamburg showed, the world seems to be learning how to face up to the New York billionaire.

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"We can achieve more together than by acting alone," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday after she successfully steered the G20 summit around the various road blocks thrown up by Trump as he sought to impose his nationalist economic agenda on the meeting in Hamburg.

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But, during the last few days in Hamburg, the world leaders now appeared to have sized up Trump, joining together to successfully stand up to him on climate change and reaffirming their strong commitment to free trade.

In their communique, the G20 acknowledged that more needed to be done to share the benefits of globalization and "the role of legitimate defence instruments in trade."

But they insisted they would "continue the fight against protectionism, including all unfair trade practices."

The other 19 of the G20 leaders appeared even less inclined to be intimidated by Trump's move last month to bail out of the 2015 Paris climate change accord, simply saying they took note of the US decision to withdraw from the agreement.

The 19 told the president they also reaffirmed their strong commitment to the Paris agreement and planned to press on swiftly with its full implementation, according to the summit’s final text.

They also rebuffed a call by Trump to renegotiate the Paris accord, saying its members believe the agreement is "irreversible."

That simple word drew cheers from some corners.

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The world has passed the first Trump climate test," said Klaus Milke, speaker of the F20, an alliance of organizations watching the proceedings at the G20 and chairman of the German organization Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit (Foundation for Sustainability).

"It is a strong sign of unity that all but one of the major economies – some of whom were previously antagonists in the UN climate negotiations - have jointly committed to implementing the Paris Agreement."

  DPA International

In other words, we may have to invade Europe.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.