{"id":18146,"date":"2014-03-05T05:45:01","date_gmt":"2014-03-05T10:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=18146"},"modified":"2014-03-04T18:16:21","modified_gmt":"2014-03-04T23:16:21","slug":"the-consequences-of-weakness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2014\/03\/the-consequences-of-weakness\/","title":{"rendered":"The consequences of weakness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Last week, President Obama gave a stern warning to Vladimir Putin not to intervene militarily in the Ukraine.\u00a0 Whereupon Putin did just that.\u00a0 We have had the \u201cred line\u201d that Syria dare not cross, dropping sanctions against Iran to encourage them not to\u00a0 develop a nuclear weapon, \u201cleading from behind\u201d in Libya, dropping the missile shield in Eastern Europe at Putin\u2019s request,\u00a0 proposing cuts to the military, and on and on.\u00a0 America today is projecting weakness, not strength, on the world stage.\u00a0 The result is global instability and assertive authoritarians.<\/p>\n

Even the Washington Post<\/em>, that consistently liberal publication and a stalwart defender of the president, is exasperated at the administration\u2019s foreign policy weakness.\u00a0 An excerpt from an editorial on the subject after the jump.<\/p>\n

From the Editorial Board, President Obama\u2019s foreign policy is based on fantasy \u2013 The Washington Post<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

FOR FIVE YEARS, President Obama has led a foreign policy based more on how he thinks the world should operate than on reality. It was a world in which \u201cthe tide of war is receding\u201d and the United States could, without much risk, radically reduce the size of its armed forces. Other leaders, in this vision, would behave rationally and in the interest of their people and the world. Invasions, brute force, great-power games and shifting alliances \u2014 these were things of the past. Secretary of State John F. Kerry displayed this mindset on ABC\u2019s \u201cThis Week\u201d Sunday when he said, of Russia\u2019s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, \u201cIt\u2019s a 19th century act in the 21st century.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a nice thought, and we all know what he means. A country\u2019s standing is no longer measured in throw-weight or battalions. The world is too interconnected to break into blocs. A small country that plugs into cyberspace can deliver more prosperity to its people (think Singapore or Estonia) than a giant with natural resources and standing armies.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Russian President Vladimir Putin has not received the memo on 21st-century behavior. Neither has China\u2019s president, Xi Jinping, who is engaging in gunboat diplomacy against Japan and the weaker nations of Southeast Asia. Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is waging a very 20th-century war against his own people, sending helicopters to drop exploding barrels full of screws, nails and other shrapnel onto apartment buildings where families cower in basements. These men will not be deterred by the disapproval of their peers, the weight of world opinion or even disinvestment by Silicon Valley companies. They are concerned primarily with maintaining their holds on power.<\/p>\n

Mr. Obama is not responsible for their misbehavior. But he does, or could, play a leading role in structuring the costs and benefits they must consider before acting.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, President Obama gave a stern warning to Vladimir Putin not to intervene militarily in the Ukraine.\u00a0 Whereupon Putin did just that.\u00a0 We have had the \u201cred line\u201d that Syria dare not cross, dropping sanctions against Iran to encourage them not to\u00a0 develop a nuclear weapon, \u201cleading from behind\u201d in Libya, dropping the missile […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,23],"tags":[855,1787],"class_list":["post-18146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government","category-international","tag-foreign-policy","tag-president-barack-obama"],"yoast_head":"\nThe consequences of weakness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Last week, President Obama gave a stern warning to Vladimir Putin not to intervene militarily in the Ukraine.\u00a0 Whereupon 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