Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Moon of Alabama — On The Delusion In U.S. Foreign Policy And What Might Change It

The US elite are delusional. Counting the ways.

Moon of Alabama
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/10/on-the-delusion-in-us-foreign-policy-and-what-might-change-it.html

See also

Asia Times
The Taiwan issue will fade away – literally
by David P. Goldman
https://asiatimes.com/2021/10/the-taiwan-issue-will-fade-away-literally/

3 comments:

Marian Ruccius said...

Well, this is meant candidly, not intended as an insult:

The problem with US foreign policy is that it has no foreign policy. It is all about internal political interests, and the short-term gains (internally and externally) for certain donors. This appeared to work as long as the US could intimidate other countries, in that it at least provided for internal consistency of discourse, but the US has no more soft power to exert, and China and Russia have largely rendered US hard power irrelevant (except among compromised leadership of small countries). And the US population is no longer at all onside with US elites.

The US could easily still dominate the next century, but only if it starts by getting the population onside -- e.g. though public single payer healthcare -- and making Putin's Russia (and thus once again all of Europe) an ally, for instance by recognizing Russia's title to Crimea. Both actions are impossible, not because they are technically difficult or opposed by the US populace, but because of the influence of special interests, e.g. oil and gas interests, banking interests, or the Ukrainian-American vote. Ultimately, therefore, the US position is very weak only because of the endemic, embedded corruption of the US republic, which is the direct product of the design of the US Constitution and Republic. If the US were a parliamentary democracy, with a merely symbolic President, all could be solved. But it looks like the US governmental apparatus -- especially those elements which were once its saving grace, such as an effective body of anti-trust law -- cannot be altered without violence.

Tom Hickey said...

@ Marian Ruccius

Agree. The US completely blew the opportunity. Historians will come to view this as one of the worst blunders ever recorded.

If the US had administered the American Empire that emerged post WWII fairly and competently, there would be no problem and everyone would be on board because such a system is effective, efficient and resilient, and benefits all. The pie would grown proportionally for everyone involved instead of there being perceived winners and losers.

Lots of factors involved but basically "follow the money" and that requires following the power. Of course, there were other factors including the American psyche, which was just not up to the job.

Peter Pan said...

Without US foreign policy, Russian and Chinese nationalism would be languishing in obscurity.