Thomas Donnelly has an interesting piece in the Weekly Standard called Losing the Middle East. Donnelly makes the case that American influence in the Middle East has declined drastically under president Obama and may be totally collapsing. In a nutshell, Donnelly's argument is that in 2008, with the success of the Iraqi surge, American influence was at a high point. Enemies and friends alike understood that the USA commitment to the region was strong and enduring, and that perception meant that American views carried great weight among the nations of the area. then came president Obama and his push to get all forces out of Iraq with no further involvement in that nation, the announcement of the Afghanistan pull out, the abandonment of our friends during the so called Arab Spring, the lack of involvement in nearly all that happened during the Arab Spring, and even the failure to impose any consequence on Assad in Syria for crossing Obama's own red line with chemical weapons' use. In short, no nation in the region fears American action, and no nation in the region relies on American support. We have lost nearly all influence.
Donnelly is correct in his view that American influence has vanished in the Middle East. Even worse, the team that Obama has assembled to deal with foreign policy simply is not up to the task of restoring that influence. John Kerry is both myopic and just plain dumb. He is back to pushing Israeli-Palestinian talks as if that dispute is an important factor in the peace of the region. Kerry, however, is ignoring the Sunni-Shia battles which are raging across the area. The new National Security Advisor, Susan Rice is so devoid of real foreign policy experience that Obama could just as well have appointed Sasha or Malia to the post. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is someone who the entire world knows is unalterably opposed to the use of American force in any situation. So we have and idiot and incompetent and an isolationist instructing Obama on international matters. It's insane!
A competent team working for an interested and competent president could stop and even reverse the erosion of American influence in the region, but we do not have either of those elements in place. Indeed, we are stuck with the current group for the next three and a half years. During that time, major damage will be done in the region. Hopefully, when team Obama finally walks out the door, America will be able to recover.
Donnelly is correct in his view that American influence has vanished in the Middle East. Even worse, the team that Obama has assembled to deal with foreign policy simply is not up to the task of restoring that influence. John Kerry is both myopic and just plain dumb. He is back to pushing Israeli-Palestinian talks as if that dispute is an important factor in the peace of the region. Kerry, however, is ignoring the Sunni-Shia battles which are raging across the area. The new National Security Advisor, Susan Rice is so devoid of real foreign policy experience that Obama could just as well have appointed Sasha or Malia to the post. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is someone who the entire world knows is unalterably opposed to the use of American force in any situation. So we have and idiot and incompetent and an isolationist instructing Obama on international matters. It's insane!
A competent team working for an interested and competent president could stop and even reverse the erosion of American influence in the region, but we do not have either of those elements in place. Indeed, we are stuck with the current group for the next three and a half years. During that time, major damage will be done in the region. Hopefully, when team Obama finally walks out the door, America will be able to recover.
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