It’s never good for America when the presidency fails. But we seem to be in danger of this with President Obama. Seth Leibsohn documents the disrespect he faced in China (H/T):
The two most important things happening in and about Asia are Afghanistan, where President Obama did not go, and China’s support for our attempt at an Iran policy, which Obama did not get. No budging from China. The whole idea of negotiating with Iran was based on sanctions. And the whole idea around sanctions was that it would work if China cooperated. I never thought sanctions would work; I never thought negotiating with Iran would work. And, regardless, China is not playing ball with President Obama — in part because of our “weakened position.”
This is reminiscent of the Jimmy Carter years — the last time the U.S. was seen as weak — unable to move and coax other countries, unable to reassure dependent allies, unable to have the respect of the world and, of course, unable to move the mullocracy of Iran.
As for our “weakened position,” there are any number of ways to change that. Yes, our economy is the first problem and right now we have little leverage there. But our foreign policy has been one of retreat and capitulation as well. We capitulated to China on the Dalai Lama, we are capitulating to the Chinese client state of the Sudan, President Obama on Monday shook hands with the prime minister of repressive Myanmar (another China vassal state), of course he bowed to Japan, he took missile defenses out of Eastern Europe at the request of Russia, he has refused to say anything of strength about Iran, and has shown appeasement to Latin American dictators. Looking at this record: Why would a skeptical country like China think we are strong, deserving of respect?
This is not only sad, it is dangerous. A weak and disrespected America is bad for America, sends the wrong message to enemies (including terrorists), hurts dissident movements abroad, and — as a political matter, again — reminds us nothing so much as it does of the years of Jimmy Carter, which it took even more years to overcome.
Since Obama is floundering, here are some ideas to help the nation abroad.
- Focus on controlling health care costs rather than expanding coverage. The former will save money; the latter will cost money we don’t have. Dropping the massive reform and focusing on small pieces of reform here and there will help more people and prevent any chaos arising from an omnibus bill.
- Start winding down the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It seems unlikely that we’ll be able to plant funcioning democracies in those arid lands, so it’s probably best to get regimes that are, if not peaceful, at least amenable to American interests. It’s also acceptable for Obama to double down and win the wars, especially if he can get functioning countries out of it. What’s NOT acceptable is the in-between compromise by dithering default that is the status quo.
- Maintain the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. This means not piling debt on top of debt. It also might mean having the Fed raise interest rates, which will cause a great deal of short term pain. The long term goal, however, is worth it. We really don’t want someone else dominating the world economy.
- Keep meeting with dissidents. Economic necessity will keep the bad regimes (like China) meeting and trading with us anyway. To quote George W. Bush to Iranian dissidents, “as you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you.” Meeting with the Dalai Lama should be a no-brainer.
Posted by Hubbard in CHANGE!