The Absence of American Leadership

In a highly sophisticated analysis of international geopolitics Niall Ferguson observes that Europeans are losing faith in American leadership. One would like to say that this is shocking, considering what is happening in Ukraine, but it is not even close to surprising.

In one week the president of the United States chose, through his justice department, to have his leading political opponent indicted. Said president is barely capable of speaking in coherent sentences. His vice president is a certifiable imbecile, as is his press secretary. And one leading young Democratic politician, who goes by the initials AOC, is a pathetic twerp.

Ferguson is far too intelligent to raise such issues, but when people evaluate the virtues of democracy, they certainly ask themselves who the voters elect to public office. If the current crowd inspires confidence, you have blinded yourself to the obvious.

Ask yourself how it looks to other nations. The powerful American military is promoting dissension in the ranks. It is seeking to rid the forces of white supremacists and it is willing to pay for gender reassignment surgery. The leader of the space force drones on about trans rights. And, until now, at least, the military seems to believe that its greatest enemy is the weather. It has gone to war against the weather. 

Sign to fight the climate and save the world, it's the new slogan. Do you really believe that htis is going to inspire anyone anywhere to accept American leadership.

As for Ukraine, it might be making our military equipment look good, but, as Ferguson points out, most Europeans think that the Ukraine war is over and that Ukraine has lost.

As for the larger question, how the world sees us, our military is increasingly being led by women. What passes for a defense establishment is increasingly being led by women.

Now, the problem with that is perception. If your enemies size you up they are going to evaluate your leaders. If they see women in charge they are going to assume that you are weak, for obvious reasons. This does not mean that women weaken the military, but it does mean that your enemies are more likely to attack an opponent that they consider to be weak. Remember the Spanish Armada?

And then there is the mania over diversity. Let’s say that you hire people, for the military or for the government, on the grounds of skin color. Because you want your administration to look like America. Again, these might be the most capable people, but the ranting and railing about diversity suggests otherwise. 

People in foreign countries, being less enlightened than we are, will look at the absurdity of making diversity hires and will conclude that these people are less than competent. Hiring for diversity and inclusion creates the impression that the government is being run by a bunch of incompetents. I am not saying that the people in question are necessarily incompetent, but if our adversaries conclude that most of them are likely not up to their jobs, they will behave accordingly.

Perception might not be decisive, but it certainly matters when your opponent is sizing you up and deciding how many risks it wants to take.

And now, if Ferguson is a trustworthy barometer, Europe seems to have concluded that America is not up to the task of providing international leadership. 

And let us not forget the horrors of the Biden administration immigration policy. The administration has opened the nation’s southern borders to people from south and central America. These illegal migrants are uneducated and doubtless have very low IQs. Many of them do not even speak Spanish, no less English. They might be able to work on farms picking apples, but that is probably their limit-- except for crime.

A country does not gain strength by opening its doors to uneducated masses of people and putting them on the national dole. Beneficient charity does not create wealth or resolve.

As for where we are today, globalization has broken down and other nations are working to take up the slack of failed American leadership. The BRICS nations are first among them, and we note that the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, has announced that he will be attending the next Brix meeting. 

Like it or not Macron is not a fool. He is diversifying his nation’s investments.

The notion that the free world, led by America, is going to take the lead internationally, seems to be an ever more distant dream. Surely, no one expects that our demented president will be capable of leading anyone anywhere. Heck, he can barely make it off the stage without tripping over himself.

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