The American Century Is So Over

Published on Saturday, May 29, 2010 by TomDispatch.com

The American Century Is So Over

Obama’s Rudderless Foreign Policy Underscores America’s Waning Power

by Dilip Hiro

Irrespective of their politics, flawed leaders share a common trait. They generally remain remarkably oblivious to the harm they do to the nation they lead. George W. Bush is a salient recent example, as is former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. When it comes to foreign policy, we are now witnessing a similar phenomenon at the Obama White House.

Here is the Obama pattern: Choose a foreign leader to pressure. Threaten him with dire consequences if he does not bend to Washington's will. When he refuses to submit and instead responds vigorously, back off quickly and overcompensate for failure by switching into a placatory mode.

In his first year-plus in office, Barack Obama has provided us with enough examples to summarize his leadership style. The American president fails to objectively evaluate the strength of the cards that a targeted leader holds and his resolve to play them.

Obama's propensity to retreat at the first sign of resistance shows that he lacks both guts and the strong convictions that are essential elements distinguishing statesmen from politicians. By pursuing a rudderless course in his foreign policy, by flip-flopping in his approach to other leaders, he is also inadvertently furnishing hard evidence to those who argue that American power is on the decline -- and that the downward slide of the globe's former "sole superpower" is irreversible.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/05/29-4

Apparently Hiro, among others, can't handle the transition from a war hawk policy that said the military would solve everything including soggy chips to a foreign policy based on diplomacy and cooperation.

Personally, I think the sooner this country starts giving up its empire the better. We can't afford it and the rich have exempted themselves from footing any of the bills. It's bankrupting us as individual people and as a country.

Hiro is just going to have to lump it.

The same pattern is evident in his "negotiations" with the Republicans.
The only group he has Stood Firm against is the Liberal Wing of his own party.

Maybe I'm blinded by partisanship, but I can't recall any concession to The Left, or any movement to The Left in order to gain votes or support....
Always a steady and consistent move to the Right.

escalating Afghanistan to taking single payer off the table to putting more tax cuts and nearly no infrasructure spending in the nearly $1 trillion stimulus, he's far too quick to please the right.

Now there's talk he may be abandoning his campaign promise to support net neutrality. If he does that, we'll have no access to genuine news, and he can appease the right while the GOP/DLC types run hog wild and very few people will even know what's happening.

The corporations that used to control virtually all news in this country are itchin' to bring those good ol' days back. If they think they can scare Obama into compliance, you know they've got a whole team of the most devious experts in human psychology and influence working on precisely that.

But he is no FDR. If FDR was like Obama he would have tried to reconcile with the republican interests trying to take him down, instead he welcomed their hatred and grew stronger from it. FDR might have overreached with his attempt to stack the court, and did cut the budget too quick after a small recovery from the depression. However, he would never underplay his hand. I think Obama has gotten the message a little bit but he still wasted a year waiting for republicans to play nice, hopefully it wont be his epitaph.