Less-than-super power

world leaders Washington is a serious place run by intelligent adults. Not that Trump started the decline of U.S. authority and prestige. Bush launched a war without considering how to handle the aftermath, and opened a gateway for new forces of horror and disruption. Barack Obama resisted getting involved in the mess that resulted, drawing red lines he refused to respect, and paving the way for Iran to become a nuclear power in the cockeyed notion it would make the world a better place.

As a USA Today contributor noted, “the West is smashing its geopolitical might on the anvil of its own foolishness. The authoritarian regimes in China and Russia are gleefully picking up the pieces.” Trump is just more obvious than his predecessors in his limited understanding and interest in any of it, or knowing what to do about it.

The U.S. has always been an introspective nation, far more interested in its own affairs than in wielding the authority it held as the world’s pre-eminent power. It inherited that status with the decline of rival powers, and after the fall of the Soviet Union was declared the world’s only remaining superpower. It never quite knew what to do with that position, allowing it to wither considerably from lack of use. You don’t hear it mentioned much any more.

It’s nice to think of the Pentagon as a bulwark against Chinese expansionism or Russian aggression, and without U.S. support the very existence of Israel would be in question. It’s often asked what the planet would look like if the U.S. wasn’t around to act as international cop, and whether it would be a good or a bad thing. It may be that we’re about to find out.