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Washington's Broken Civil Discourse Muddies Our Foreign Policy
By Chas Freeman
Candidates
for president are loudly promising that if elected, they would restore
America's position as the unchallenged leader of the world. But the only
way we can do that is by rebuilding our country at home. We cannot be
stronger in the world if our own society continues to weaken.
When the Soviet Union collapsed a quarter-century ago, Americans celebrated our unrivaled military power. We proclaimed ourselves the indispensable nation. But we failed to define a coherent vision of a new world order, and we failed to pronounce an inspiring role for the United States within it. Our incompetence in foreign affairs has become a serious international problem.
Today the United States is steadily less geopolitically dominant, less internationally competitive, less emblematic of equal opportunity, less faithful to the core values of our republic, and less looked to for leadership by foreigners. We have worse relations with each of our great power rivals than any of them has with any other. Even our allies, while not turning against us, are often no longer with us.
Our global standing has been diminished not just by the rise of others and the estrangement of allies, but by structural changes in our economy and disinvestment in education and research. We are becoming less competitive. Social mobility in America now compares unfavorably with that in other industrialized democracies.http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2016/02/23/washingtons_broken_civil_discourse_muddies_our_foreign_policy.html?utm_source=World+News&utm_campaign=582d122ebd-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d519acabbf-582d122ebd-84279353
When the Soviet Union collapsed a quarter-century ago, Americans celebrated our unrivaled military power. We proclaimed ourselves the indispensable nation. But we failed to define a coherent vision of a new world order, and we failed to pronounce an inspiring role for the United States within it. Our incompetence in foreign affairs has become a serious international problem.
Today the United States is steadily less geopolitically dominant, less internationally competitive, less emblematic of equal opportunity, less faithful to the core values of our republic, and less looked to for leadership by foreigners. We have worse relations with each of our great power rivals than any of them has with any other. Even our allies, while not turning against us, are often no longer with us.
Our global standing has been diminished not just by the rise of others and the estrangement of allies, but by structural changes in our economy and disinvestment in education and research. We are becoming less competitive. Social mobility in America now compares unfavorably with that in other industrialized democracies.http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2016/02/23/washingtons_broken_civil_discourse_muddies_our_foreign_policy.html?utm_source=World+News&utm_campaign=582d122ebd-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d519acabbf-582d122ebd-84279353
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