US President-elect Joe Biden's 2020 campaigns – both in the Democratic primaries and when he beat departing President Donald Trump in the general election – were built on the promise of national reconciliation and a return to the political centre. That was always going to be a tall order, but the post-election aftermath is virtually guaranteeing that partisan antagonism, and concomitant governmental gridlock, will be worse than ever.
While Mr Biden says he wants the deeply divided country to begin to reunite around shared principles and goals, Mr Trump is pushing vigorously, and effectively, to promote extreme outrage among his supporters. Reconciliation cannot begin if much of the country believes that the election was "stolen", Mr Biden is a usurper and Mr Trump is the "real president".
Mr Trump and his allies have presented no credible evidence of meaningful irregularities and lost over 50 court challenges on both procedural and factual grounds.
Yet the constant drumbeat of allegations, however fact-free, has by now embedded the myth of the "stolen election" into the belief system of most Republican voters, according to recent polls. It threatens to become a defining creed.
Joe Biden will find it extremely difficult to bring together a deeply divided America. AFP
His final month in office could be especially tumultuous. Numerous major newspapers reported that, on Friday, Mr Trump held what was surely one of the most bizarre and disturbing meetings ever in the White House.
Among the ideas seriously contemplated by the President were declaring martial law and using the military to force swing states to redo their elections so that Mr Trump can “win".
That amounts to serious consideration of a coup d'etat by a sitting US president. Military leaders yet again felt obliged to state publicly that they would not use force to keep him in power.
One adviser describes Mr Trump's current attitude as seeking any ideas "to stay in office past January 20". At the meeting he also pondered an executive order seizing control of state voting machines.
Mr Trump will probably never concede defeat and leave the presidency. But the presidency will leave him on January 20 when Mr Biden is inaugurated.
It seems far-fetched for a former president to retain an iron grip on his party without the power of the White House. But Mr Trump could well pull it off. He is likely to go into heavy-duty campaign mode on, or even before January 20, and will almost certainly hold some sort of "Trump 2024" rally at the same time as Mr Biden's inauguration. Elected Republicans will probably be held to account for which event they attend.
Immediately after the election, many leading Republicans argued that not publicly acknowledging Mr Biden's victory was merely a way to humour Mr Trump and allow him to ease into a more gracious exit.
Mitch McConnell, the top-ranking Republican in the US Senate, defied tradition by waiting for the Electoral College vote before congratulating Joe Biden. Bloomberg
This assumption predictably backfired, as they failed to understand that Mr Trump’s masterful demagoguery would trap them into tacitly supporting, or at least not openly contradicting, the "stolen election" mythology. And now that this myth is dominating the political consciousness of many Republican voters, it is becoming an article of faith and a definitive litmus test. That is precisely how Mr Trump will attempt to maintain control of his party.
It sets a new standard whereby ever conceding defeat in an election is anathema for Republicans. Co-operation with the Biden administration may often seem immoral treachery. It might even be difficult for Mr Biden to secure Senate approval for some cabinet appointments, unless Democrats improbably win both Georgia Senate run-off elections on January 5 and gain the narrowest possible control of the Senate.
Challenges to reconciliation will not come just from Republicans. The emerging Biden cabinet is decidedly centrist, angering many left-wing Democrats who never trusted him anyway.
US President-elect Joe Biden has made appointments for his senior White House staff. AFP
Secretary of State: Antony J Blinken. AFP
Director of National Intelligence: Avril Haines. AFP
Ambassador to the UN: Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Bloomberg
Secretary of Homeland Security: Alejandro Mayorkas. Reuters
Former Secretary of State John Kerry will be the special presidential envoy for climate for US President-elect Joe Biden. EPA
President-elect Joe Biden selected Jake Sullivan as his National Security Advisor, pictured here with Hillary Clinton. EPA
Senior Advisor: Mike Donilon. Seen here on the right, alongside his brother Tom Donilon. Getty Images
Deputy Chief of Staff: Jen OMalley Dillon. Getty Images
Counsellor: Steve Ricchetti. Seen here while serving as Deputy Chief of Staff for then President Bill Clinton. Reuters
Senior Adviser to the President and Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement: Cedric Richmond. AFP
Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs: Julie Chavez Rodriguez. Seen here while serving as an aide to Kamala Harris. AFP
Biden has also appointed Annie Tomasini as Director of Oval Office Operations, Dana Remus will be Counsel to the President, Julissa Reynoso Pantaleon as Chief of Staff to Dr. Jill Biden, and Anthony Bernal will be Senior Advisor to Dr.Biden. Bloomberg
Reema Dodin is a Palestinian-American political veteran and will become deputy director of the White House office of legislative affairs. Image: Twitter
Centrists hoped Mr Trump's unpopularity would give Democrats a huge victory in Congress along with the White House. Any leftist insurgency could then be contained in the glow of a decisive victory under centrist leadership. But while Mr Biden's win was comprehensive, Democrats actually lost seats in the House of Representatives and probably will not control the Senate. Leftists are already asserting themselves and they, too, will be militating against compromises as betrayals of principles.
As for Republicans, their determination to not co-operate is clearly signalled in the latest coronavirus relief bill negotiations. These have been complicated by a depressingly predictable though sudden resurgence of Republican concern about budget deficits, which were blithely dismissed during the Trump presidency.
They have also been moving to hamstring the powers of the Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve Bank to direct disaster relief and recovery, again attempting to hobble the incoming administration. The national economy may again fall victim to cynical partisan politicking.
US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump walk to Marine One prior to departing from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC. AFP
An attendee wears a santa hat that reads 'Keep America Great' during a rally with U.S. President Donald Trump in Valdosta, Georgia, U.S. Bloomberg
Supporters of US President Donald Trump hold a cutout of him at a rally to support Republican Senate candidates at Valdosta Regional Airport in Valdosta, Georgia. AFP
US President Donald Trump waves as he leaves the stage with First Lady Melania Trump at the end of a rally to support Republican Senate candidates at Valdosta Regional Airport in Valdosta, Georgia. AFP
President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally for Senate Republican candidates, Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., and Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., at Valdosta Regional Airport, in Valdosta, Ga. AP Photo
Georgia Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler speaks during a rally with US President Donald Trump to support Republican Senate candidates at Valdosta Regional Airport in Valdosta, Georgia. AFP
An attendee wears a holiday sweater featuring U.S. President Donald Trump during a rally with in Valdosta, Georgia, U.S. Bloomberg
Attendees gather during a rally with U.S. President Donald Trump in Valdosta, Georgia, U.S. Bloomberg
Attendees gather during a rally with U.S. President Donald Trump in Valdosta, Georgia, U.S. Bloomberg
Attendees hold signs during a rally with U.S. President Donald Trump in Valdosta, Georgia, U.S. Bloomberg
US President Donald Trump holds up his fists at the end of a rally to support Republican Senate candidates at Valdosta Regional Airport in Valdosta, Georgia. AFP
An attendee wears a shirt featuring photos of U.S. President Donald Trump during a rally with in Valdosta, Georgia, U.S. Bloomberg
Attendees gather during a rally with U.S. President Donald Trump in Valdosta, Georgia, U.S. Bloomberg
President-elect Joe Biden arrives at St Joseph on the Brandywine for an afternoon mass in Wilmington, Delaware. AFP
Too many political actors have incentives to oppose Biden's national healing
Republicans are drifting into an oppositional hysteria that may make the "tea party" extremism of the Barack Obama era look calm and conciliatory.
Mr Trump has often trafficked in conspiracy theories, beginning his political career as the main champion of "Birtherism", the crude fabrication that Mr Obama was born outside the US and hence ineligible for the presidency. Now he is leaving his own presidency effectively promoting the ideas that not only is Mr Biden an illegitimate president, but the entire US democratic system is a fraud.
Republican leaders must either find a way to convince their voters that this not actually true or remain in the thrall of Mr Trump for at least the next two years . Almost none of them have even begun to try. Instead, they are allowing their party to become defined by a set of paranoid and dangerous delusions. As ever, they seem to have an inexplicable confidence that they can ultimately control such combustible elements. Or maybe they just do not care.
It is not impossible for Mr Biden to find a way to overcome all of this and really begin American national healing and a centrist resurgence. Much of the public would rejoice at that, but too many political actors have every incentive to oppose it.
His challenge looks far steeper today than immediately after the election. Back then, it merely appeared daunting.
Hussein Ibish is a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute and a US affairs columnist for The National
A recent survey of 10,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE found that 82 per cent have plans to invest, primarily in property. This is significantly higher than the 2014 poll showing only two out of 10 Filipinos planned to invest.
Fifty-five percent said they plan to invest in property, according to the poll conducted by the New Perspective Media Group, organiser of the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition. Acquiring a franchised business or starting up a small business was preferred by 25 per cent and 15 per cent said they will invest in mutual funds. The rest said they are keen to invest in insurance (3 per cent) and gold (2 per cent).
Of the 5,500 respondents who preferred property as their primary investment, 54 per cent said they plan to make the purchase within the next year. Manila was the top location, preferred by 53 per cent.
The utilitarian robe held dear by Arab women is undergoing a change that reveals it as an elegant and graceful garment available in a range of colours and fabrics, while retaining its traditional appeal.
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
