Analyzing America’s abandonment of its traditional role on the world stage, the former senator Joseph Lieberman assesses the resultant breakdown:
The simple fact is that there is more instability in the world today than at any time since the end of World War II. The threats come from emboldened expansionist powers such as Iran, Russia, and China, and also terrorist aggressors such as the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. In short, the enemies of freedom are on the march.
At the same time, the United States—which assumed global leadership after World War II to protect our domestic security, prosperity, and freedom—has chosen this moment to become more passive in the world. The absence of American leadership has certainly not caused all the instability, but it has encouraged and exacerbated it.
For example, . . .the military and political disengagement of the United States from Iraq after the success of the surge and our failure to intervene to stop the slaughter in Syria have conspired to create a vacuum in the heart of the Middle East. This vacuum has been exploited by the region’s most dangerous anti-American forces: totalitarian Sunni fanatics and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The result is the creation of a terrorist sanctuary of unprecedented scale and Iranian domination over multiple Arab capitals. . . .
In too many places in recent years, the United States has treated its adversaries as essential partners to be courted, while dismissing or denigrating its historic allies and partners as inconveniences or obstacles to peace. But as frustrated as they are with the United States, our friends also recognize that they are incapable by themselves of managing the crises that confront them without the United States.
Read more on Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-absence-of-us-leadership-makes-the-world-more-dangerous-than-ever/2016/02/24/65e586a8-d8ac-11e5-925f-1d10062cc82d_story.html