For most of America, the idea that we have to pay attention to the rest of the world is a non-starter. Most Americans under the age of 40 do not have clear memories of a time when another country truly threatened the USA. There was, of course, the terror attacks of 9-11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but those involved an enemy that was a non-state actor for the most part. So, for more than half of the country, there is no experience with the idea of dealing with an aggressive and dangerous enemy nation.
In the past, a sizeable chunk of the American people had no desire to involve this country in the disputes of other nations in Europe or Asia. During World War II, as the Nazis defeated country after country and spread their evil across a continent, the majority of Americans wanted to stay out of the fight. In Asia, as the imperial Japanese marched across the continent, the American reaction was the same: people did not want to get involved. It was all very far away until Pearl Harbor was attacked.
When one adds in the fact that over half the country cannot even remember a time when America was threatened by another country, there is an overwhelming belief that there is no need to get involved with the latest moves that threaten the peace of the world. If Russia wants to take over its neighbors one by one, why should we care? If Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons, what business is it of ours to be concerned? We need to concern ourselves with what is happening at home; that is the theory.
The truth, however, is that hiding from the rest of the world is not an option America can choose. Withdrawal from world affairs (except for speeches) cannot work no matter how much president Obama wants it to do so. Think of this:
1. America still gets a big chunk of our energy from abroad.
2. America sells about two and half trillion dollars worth of goods to other countries and imports a larger amount from abroad.
3. American prosperity -- or at least our current stagnant slow growth-- is dependent on the economic health of the rest of the world.
In other words, if the rest of the world goes up in flames, America will get burnt even if we do not participate. We cannot avoid this fact through wishful thinking. Even more important, however, is this simple fact: while Americans may want to avoid involvement in the rest of the world, the other countries of the world do not want to avoid involvement with us. For example, the new video of the al Qaeda public leadership meeting in Yemen makes clear that the principal target of the terrorists I America. (Strange, isn't it, that this group which Obama tells us is decimated and on the run still managed to hold a public "leadership convention" and release video from it.) Vladimir Putin knows that the greatest threat to his new Russian empire is the USA even if Americans do not want to consider that reality. Putin knows that he has to neutralize us if he is to be able to keep his new possessions.
There needs to be an American strategy for dealing with the new reality of the world. The first step towards that strategy would be for our president to recognize that reality and to lead America towards understanding it. The fact that our leadership is so delusional that it still believes that speeches alone will make a difference is bad enough. It is worse that nothing is being done to educate the American people to the increasing dangers we face. We are stuck with incompetent leaders for at least another two and a half years. Let's hope that things do not spiral totally out of control before that time ends.
In the past, a sizeable chunk of the American people had no desire to involve this country in the disputes of other nations in Europe or Asia. During World War II, as the Nazis defeated country after country and spread their evil across a continent, the majority of Americans wanted to stay out of the fight. In Asia, as the imperial Japanese marched across the continent, the American reaction was the same: people did not want to get involved. It was all very far away until Pearl Harbor was attacked.
When one adds in the fact that over half the country cannot even remember a time when America was threatened by another country, there is an overwhelming belief that there is no need to get involved with the latest moves that threaten the peace of the world. If Russia wants to take over its neighbors one by one, why should we care? If Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons, what business is it of ours to be concerned? We need to concern ourselves with what is happening at home; that is the theory.
The truth, however, is that hiding from the rest of the world is not an option America can choose. Withdrawal from world affairs (except for speeches) cannot work no matter how much president Obama wants it to do so. Think of this:
1. America still gets a big chunk of our energy from abroad.
2. America sells about two and half trillion dollars worth of goods to other countries and imports a larger amount from abroad.
3. American prosperity -- or at least our current stagnant slow growth-- is dependent on the economic health of the rest of the world.
In other words, if the rest of the world goes up in flames, America will get burnt even if we do not participate. We cannot avoid this fact through wishful thinking. Even more important, however, is this simple fact: while Americans may want to avoid involvement in the rest of the world, the other countries of the world do not want to avoid involvement with us. For example, the new video of the al Qaeda public leadership meeting in Yemen makes clear that the principal target of the terrorists I America. (Strange, isn't it, that this group which Obama tells us is decimated and on the run still managed to hold a public "leadership convention" and release video from it.) Vladimir Putin knows that the greatest threat to his new Russian empire is the USA even if Americans do not want to consider that reality. Putin knows that he has to neutralize us if he is to be able to keep his new possessions.
There needs to be an American strategy for dealing with the new reality of the world. The first step towards that strategy would be for our president to recognize that reality and to lead America towards understanding it. The fact that our leadership is so delusional that it still believes that speeches alone will make a difference is bad enough. It is worse that nothing is being done to educate the American people to the increasing dangers we face. We are stuck with incompetent leaders for at least another two and a half years. Let's hope that things do not spiral totally out of control before that time ends.
No comments:
Post a Comment