Charles Krauthammer:
(1) In the South China Sea, on a speck of land of disputed sovereignty far from its borders, China has just installed anti-aircraft batteries and stationed fighter jets. This after China landed planes on an artificial island it created on another disputed island chain (the Spratlys, claimed by the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam). These facilities now function as forward bases for Beijing to challenge seven decades of American naval dominance of the Pacific Rim.
“China is clearly militarizing the South China Sea,” the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command told Congress on Tuesday. Its goal? “Hegemony in East Asia.”
(2) Syria. Russian intervention has turned the tide of war. Having rescued the Bashar al-Assad regime from collapse, relentless Russian bombing is destroying the rebel stronghold of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, creating a massive new wave of refugees and demonstrating to the entire Middle East what a Great Power can achieve when it acts seriously.
The U.S. response? Repeated pathetic attempts by Secretary of State John Kerry to propitiate Russia (and its ally, Iran) in one collapsed peace conference after another. On Sunday, he stepped out to announce yet another “provisional agreement in principle” on “a cessation of hostilities” that the CIA director, the defense secretary, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs deem little more than a ruse.
(3) Ukraine. Having swallowed Crimea so thoroughly that no one even talks about it anymore, Russia continues to trample with impunity on the Minsk cease-fire agreements. Vladimir Putin is now again stirring the pot, intensifying the fighting, advancing his remorseless campaign to fracture and subordinate the Ukrainian state. Meanwhile, Obama still refuses to send the Ukrainians even defensive weapons.
(4) Iran. Last Thursday, Iran received its first shipment of S-300 anti-aircraft batteries from Russia, a major advance in developing immunity to any attack on its nuclear facilities. And it is negotiating an $8 billion arms deal with Russia that includes sophisticated combat aircraft. Like its ballistic missile tests, this conventional weapons shopping spree is a blatant violation of U.N. Security Council prohibitions. It was also a predictable — and predicted — consequence of the Iran nuclear deal that granted Iran $100 billion and normalized its relations with the world.
The U.S. response? Words.
Unlike gravitational waves, today’s strategic situation is not hard to discern. Three major have-not powers are seeking to overturn the post-Cold War status quo: Russia in Eastern Europe, China in East Asia, Iran in the Middle East. All are on the march.
To say nothing of the Islamic State, now extending its reach from Afghanistan to West Africa. The international order built over decades by the United States is crumbling.
In the face of which, what does Obama do? Go to Cuba.
Yes, Cuba. A supreme strategic irrelevance so dear to Obama’s anti-anti-communist heart.
Is he at least going to celebrate progress in human rights and democracy — which Obama established last year as a precondition for any presidential visit? Of course not. When has Obama ever held to a red line? Indeed, since Obama began his “historic” normalization with Cuba, the repression has gotten worse. Last month, the regime arrested 1,414 political dissidents, the second-most ever recorded.
No matter. Amid global disarray and American decline, Obama sticks to his cherished concerns: Cuba, Guantanamo (about which he gave a rare televised address this week), and, of course, climate change.
Obama could not bestir himself to go to Paris in response to the various jihadi atrocities — sending Kerry instead “to share a big hug with Paris” (as Kerry explained) with James Taylor singing “You’ve Got a Friend” — but he did make an ostentatious three-day visit there for climate change.
Since Obama has been POTUS the Russian Ruble has lost 1/2 its value
The Russian economy and the Chinese economy are not doing as well as that of the USA Putin is hoping that Russians will be distracted by their military “successes”
Regardless of how many 100 dollar bills we print everyone on the planet wants them our dollar is STRONG, which conservatives continually said would not happen
Russia and Syria? they can have it, and good luck with straightening that out. Our allies in the Mideast (including Israel) have been supporting ISIS for years.
so #1 China Curt they are a superpower they are doing the same thing that we did when claiming the guano islands. Perhaps if 50 years ago we had been able to look ahead and see China as our main opponent we might have acted a bit differently towards Vietnam
#2 Like I said they are welcome to it our Mideast allies (including Israel) have been supporting ISIS since it was born as a bulwark against Iran
#3 Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries on the planet. On one side you have Neo Nazis and on the other pro Soviets.
#4 Destruction of Iran’s nuclear facilities was never a real possibility, a temp delay was all that could be achieved. The Iran hardliners were hoping for an attack, to bad Obama disappointed them.
…and then I look at Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, and see what’s being seriously offered as an alternative.
Greg needs to worry about his own party. Their leading candidate may win nomination and enter the general election wearing an orange pantsuit and campaigning from behind bars. The Obamas hate the Clintons and the feeling is mutual, which means a presidential pardon might not be forthcoming.
Everybody should be worried about where the GOP is headed. They’re half of our political system, and they’ve gone off the rails. Listen to these guys, if you an you tolerate it for a minute and forty-six seconds. Do they sound like the voices of reason? And this isn’t at all atypical. It’s becoming the norm. It’s getting worse.
If democrats were talking this way and behaving this way repeatedly during a series of nationally televised presidential debates, what would those on the right be saying about them? How would such candidates be assessed?
China and Russia are engaging in a policy of coercive gradualism, Very good review in Parameters 45(3) autumn, 2015 by Pierce, Douds and Marra. Kerry repeatedly shoot himself and this country in the head. You forgot that he had self inflicted wound in Nan for purple hears. He is a drunk by trade. America will be a third world country by 2025.
The leaders of China and Russia don’t have attention spans limited to the duration of a single news cycle. Neither do John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or Bernie Sanders.
@Greg: I’ll tell you where the GOP is heading; to a Trump nomination. Now, for all his MANY faults, what he is NOT is a socialist clinging to a failed ideology, a corrupt criminal, someone that hangs US security out on a public clothesline or a pathological liar; those are your DNC choices.
The leaders (they have them; we don’t) of China and Russia sense the greatest opportunity they are ever likely to see to grab territory and establish a secure presence. Obama’s weakness and failure to address REAL issues endangers more than just the US; he endangers the entire world.