At 250 years old, the American republic faces risks, says Sandro Moita

When reflecting on 250 years of the United States' republican experience, historian Sandro Teixeira Moita, professor of Military Sciences at Eceme (Army Command and General Staff School), stated that the main legacy of the country's founders was the concern to avoid the concentration of power that could lead to the end of the Republic.

In an interview with WW Especial, on CNN Brasil, Moita highlighted that this fear was present not only in the American Constitution, but also in the texts that helped shape its interpretation.

"The taste they had remained - and that gave enormous concern when they wrote the texts that we still read today in relation to the Constitution of the United States, not the Constitution itself, but that bunch of texts that adhere to the Constitution. The great concern was precisely this: preventing the system, the Republic, from becoming an imperial regime", he stated.

According to the historian, the classical formation of the so-called "founding fathers" directly influenced this vision.

"They had a very strong classical education. They always thought in terms of Rome or Greece. People forget that a little today, but the idea that the Republic ends and an imperial regime begins was precisely the danger they sought to avoid", he said.

In Moita's opinion, this fear helps to understand aspects of contemporary American politics, especially during Donald Trump's presidency.

"Perhaps we see, to a certain extent, a trace in the Trump presidency of, on the one hand, Bonapartism, when you have a Secretary of Defense like Hegseth [Pete], who demands from the military leadership not skillful and competent leadership, but leadership faithful to the leader. And, on the other hand, a certain Caesarism", he explained.

For the professor, the crisis of the Roman Republic - considered by the American founders as an example to be avoided - can offer parallels with the current moment in the United States.

"The crisis of the Roman Republic was the example feared by the founding fathers, but perhaps it is an American version of this crisis that we are observing now", he highlighted.

Moita also argued that the strengthening of the US Executive Branch over the last few decades has reduced the role of the US Congress in conducting foreign policy and military decisions.

"From [North] Korea to Iran, we observe the use of force, often bypassing Congress, or placing Congress in the role of merely stamping the will of the American Executive", he pointed out.

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According to him, more than an "imperial presidency", the country began to live with an increasingly strengthened Executive. "Perhaps, even more than the imperial presidency, the American Executive has become imperial. There is a question of political technology in this, in the sense that there is a complexification of the State in the 21st century, but also a process in which Congress has gradually left space for the Executive", he highlighted.

"And, as we very well say, in politics there is no vacuum: someone will always occupy that vacuum. In this case, American presidents occupied that space", added Moita.

Despite this scenario, the historian assesses that United States institutions continue to be capable of facing pressure on the political system. "I think the American experiment still has the strength to resist even a president like Trump," he concluded.

WW Special
Presented by William Waack, the program is shown on Sundays, at 10pm, on all CNN Brasil platforms.

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*Published by Jorge Fernando Rodrigues

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Source: CNN