The Global Realignment: The end of a US-centric world?

washingtonpost.com, Denver Research Group ^ | 9/15/2007 | Denver Research Group

[MNJohnnie]

PURE and utter NONSENSE.

[Grimmy]

Didn’t this general line of reasoning start sometime prior to the actual founding of th US?

I seem to remember some history about the philosophers and “sciences” of europe determining that the New World was icky and no good could come from it.

[dighton]

The media has recently caught on to the fact that US influence is in steep decline ...

If it inspires Vlad’s one-hand calisthenics, who could disagree?

[expatguy]

Tenacity is not a substitute for resolve.

An American Expat in Southeast Asia

[AnotherUnixGeek]

o The loss of US influence as a result of the Iraq war

o A view across the globe resulting from Abu Ghraib and range of missteps that the US has lost the moral high ground it had enjoyed for decades

o A feeling among global leaders that the US is without a coherent foreign policy strategy...a belief that has started feeding on itself and has emboldened US adversaries

Yeah, I'll wait for some shred of evidence that any of these premises are valid before worrying about the conclusions.

[MNJohnnie]

This is the same Leftist BS were heard during the Clinton and Carter years. That nations need to be liked by eveyone to be “influential”.

No they don’t.

[nathanbedford]

PURE horseSENSE

Apart from the authors misguided notions of causes for our international tailspin and their inferred solutions, which are pure left-wing horseshit, they have accurately outlined the state of play.

[JennysCool]

US influence is in steep decline

A perception created out of whole cloth by journalistic enterprises such as the Washington Post.

[Jim Robinson]

b/s

[Darkwolf377]

Although there are some head-scratchers here...

A recognition by the international community that the Bush Administration not only hasn't been able to deal effectively with non-state actors (e.g. terror groups like Al Qaeda) but they are holding their own or starting to win

...and the whole piece reeks of giddiness over Bush's perceived and real failings, the simple fact is that no player is #1 forever, and no player is #1 in the same way forever, either.

Can anyone seriously doubt that our war in Iraq and such things as Abu Grahbe have only brought out feelings that were already present in non-Americans? I can't imagine all these countries loving the US suddenly reading about panties on terrorist-suspects' heads and saying "WHAAAT?! This changes my whole perspective on America!"

We have definitely lost lustre due to the Iraq invasion. I happen to believe it's worth it, and years from now the world will grudgingly admit it was, too. But none of that matters NOW, when nations are rushing to protect their own interests and boost their positions while the US can be made to seem weak.

The writer's glee and the reasoning are foolish. And in a sense this is a story that could have been printed any day in the last 70. I'm not disagreeing with the basic point, though, because it seems self-evident--those nations which are always trying to gain a better position on the world stage simply have a good, meaty story to attach to their thesis.

[knarf]

Precisely.

Any conjured up pereption of US weakness is primarilly because of the enemies of our great nation ... and to obliquely misquote POGO .. "They are the socialist/democrats"

[paudio]

Actually, even during the Reagan and Bush Sr years. Remember the projection that Japan would dominate the world, replacing the US?

[Darkwolf377]

Global Thought is amused at the view the US can drill their way out of this crisis.

Something HAL 9000 about that line.

[Darkwolf377]

I wonder if Pat Buchanan recalls his almost daily tirades about how Japan was going to take us over by 1990 or whenever.

[expatguy]

that is not what I said

[SShultz460]

i agree jackbaggerry everywhere in this article

[fr_freak]

We have definitely lost lustre due to the Iraq invasion.

I disagree. Any luster that appears to have been lost, was not really there to begin with. During the Reagan years, was the US not also the target of much world scorn for its "warmongering" stances against the USSR?

Leftism has infected most, if not all, of the West. Leftists hate the US. They have to - the US has been the main force impeding their takeover of the world. The Left cannot and will not ever forgive the anti-communism of the US during the cold war. So, as far as the unfavorable feelings toward the US go, they are most likely 90% leftists. Among non-Western countries, especially Arab and other Muslim countries, I think the Iraq war has actually improved our standing, in the sense that it is better to be feared than loved.

The media loves to portray all of the rampant anti-Americanism as a new phenomenon, but it is the same-old, same-old. The only difference now is that Leftism has sucked in even more useful idiots.

[Darkwolf377]

Any luster that appears to have been lost, was not really there to begin with.

That's what I said when I went on to explain the point--that it's really the hidden anti-American feelings that some folks ALWAYS felt coming out.

[pnh102]

I never understood why the USA was somehow supposed to engage in activities that would make the “rest of the world” stop “hating us.” Personally, I wouldn’t waste the time or effort trying to impress people who are boorish, obnoxious, and rude to me simply because I come from the USA. I already know we are better people than they are.