Very interesting read but it begs the question of what we should be doing in the foreign policy realm instead of what we are doing now. Perhaps that could be a topic for the next newsletter.
Very interesting read but it begs the question of what we should be doing in the foreign policy realm instead of what we are doing now. Perhaps that could be a topic for the next newsletter.
I am not sure it’s well understood, but it’s clearly not yet widely accepted that the US no longer enjoys any admiration amongst its international partners. It has very few staunch supporters left. Most of its allies are reluctant ones. The damage done by recent administrations to the US's international image is massive. US soft power is pretty much gone.
So, a good start would entail recognizing that the US position in the world has diminished and to recalibrate foreign policy accordingly. And then to perhaps turn to the myriad of domestic issues that are the real root causes.
After the aloofness of the Obama era and the cockamamie show of Trump, the Biden administration has so far, by and large, returned to a democracy promotion reminiscent of Reaganesque and Clintonian reflexes. However, considering the damage caused earlier, the few, barely discernable touches of humility are wholly inadequate. While the current policy may prove effective over the short-term, it will likely cause more and deeper resentment that will resurface in the future.
Sooner or later, willingly or forcibly, the US will have to grieve about its loss of single superpower status. As for now, I’m afraid the establishment is still pretty much vacillating between denial and anger about it. The path to acceptance remains thorny and long.
Very interesting read but it begs the question of what we should be doing in the foreign policy realm instead of what we are doing now. Perhaps that could be a topic for the next newsletter.
I am not sure it’s well understood, but it’s clearly not yet widely accepted that the US no longer enjoys any admiration amongst its international partners. It has very few staunch supporters left. Most of its allies are reluctant ones. The damage done by recent administrations to the US's international image is massive. US soft power is pretty much gone.
So, a good start would entail recognizing that the US position in the world has diminished and to recalibrate foreign policy accordingly. And then to perhaps turn to the myriad of domestic issues that are the real root causes.
After the aloofness of the Obama era and the cockamamie show of Trump, the Biden administration has so far, by and large, returned to a democracy promotion reminiscent of Reaganesque and Clintonian reflexes. However, considering the damage caused earlier, the few, barely discernable touches of humility are wholly inadequate. While the current policy may prove effective over the short-term, it will likely cause more and deeper resentment that will resurface in the future.
Sooner or later, willingly or forcibly, the US will have to grieve about its loss of single superpower status. As for now, I’m afraid the establishment is still pretty much vacillating between denial and anger about it. The path to acceptance remains thorny and long.