President Obama looks like a lame duck on the world stage as US global leadership goes AWOL
By Nile Gardiner World Last updated: November 24th, 2010________________________
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Protesters burn flags at a rally denouncing North Korea in Seoul (Photo: Reuters)
President Bush may not have not have won the Nobel Peace Prize and was hugely unpopular at the dictator-friendly United Nations, but he was mightily feared by America’s enemies. Many a tyrant shuddered after US tanks rolled into Baghdad and removed one of the most odious psychopaths on the face of the earth from power. Even the supposedly unbeatable al-Qaeda wilted in the face of the surge in Iraq, suffering huge losses and humiliation at the hands of US forces.George W. Bush believed in American exceptionalism and wasn’t afraid to show it. He also believed that human rights and the spread of liberty and freedom across the world really mattered, and would be an integral part of American foreign policy.
It is frankly hard to decipher what the current US administration believes in with regard to its foreign policy, except the language of appeasement and a belief in American decline as a global power. With the exception of Afghanistan, where the brilliant General Petraeus has recently been wiping the floor with the Taliban, the Obama administration is floundering in a sea of confusion on the world stage. And even in Afghanistan, military successes on the battlefield are being undermined by a destructive, artificial exit strategy set in path by the White House, which hands the long-term advantage to the enemy.
The latest provocation by North Korea, with artillery fired at the South and the killing of two South Korean marines, comes at a time when American leadership has gone AWOL on the world stage, and the White House looks weaker than it has been in decades. It is hardly surprising that America’s enemies look increasingly bullish in the face of a president who makes Jimmy Carter look like General Patton.
And things look hardly better on the Iranian front, where the brutal and barbaric Islamist regime inches closer towards becoming a nuclear-armed state, which threatens the security of Israel and the future of the Middle East. In the meantime, the White House is expending a great deal of energy on signing a monumentally flawed new START Treaty with Moscow which actively undermines US interests, increases the strategic power of Russia, and significantly undercuts Washington’s ability to deploy a global missile defence system.
In an increasingly dangerous world, Barack Obama has adopted a meek, deer in the headlights approach. While America’s foes grow stronger, the United States appears weaker and more vulnerable. At the same time, US alliances with Great Britain, Israel, Japan, and Central and Eastern Europe have all taken a hit from a White House that has been more concerned with apologising to US adversaries than strengthening friendships with key allies.
Barack Obama looks increasingly like a lame duck president, not only at home but also abroad, as his administration faces an array of complex and highly threatening challenges. The United States remains the world’s only superpower, but its status is being dramatically undercut by a striking lack of leadership in Washington. The Obama administration’s “smart power” approach has been anything but, and the latest aggression emanating from Pyongyang is a stark reminder that America cannot afford to be letting its guard down, and needs to stand up to its enemies rather than appease them.
Tags: Barack Obama, foreign policy, George W Bush, Iran, North Korea, South Korea, US politics, White House
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100065133/president-obama-looks-like-a-lame-duck-on-the-world-stage-as-us-global-leadership-goes-awol/
