It seems to be becoming more and more obvious that the overall U.S. foreign policy structure appears to have all but collapsed and that all that remains is for someone to give it decent burial.
The demise of American foreign policy goes back to the virtual end of the Cold War following which the U.S. was the only 'intact' so-called super-power remaining on the world-scene. What followed was a succession of mismanagement, incompetence and political expediency blunders by a number of second-rate U.S. Presidents and their third-rate Administration officials.
The problem with American foreign policy is that a succession of U.S. Administrations have had no idea as to how the rest of the world actually operates for a very long time. They have had no idea as what real issues are within and between various countries and regions and simply put, America simply cannot accept that most people throughout the world would prefer to have as little as possible to do with the U.S.
Apart from the constant interference by the United States in the affairs of countries where they had no business to interfere, the real decline of U.S. credibility was expedited by and during the war in Vietnam, and by and through its long-standing and misguided 'no questions asked' support of Israel.
Vietnam was essentially a French post-colonial liberation war situation, depicted by the U.S. as a domino-theory scenario, a scenario that has since proved to be nonsense. Thousands of Americans died in Vietnam, as did people from other nationalities. Many more thousands of Vietnamese died through bombings, defoliation and other such practices and in the end, America still lost the war, defeated by a much smaller and much more effective resistance force.
Vietnam once again proved the military theory that has been proven numerous times in numerous locations that, no matter how big and technologically advanced an occupying force is or might be, a well disciplined and organised guerrilla force simply cannot be defeated once it has gained local support.
The Israeli connection has proven to be much more problematic for the U.S. than was perhaps first realised during the tenure of the various U.S. regimes. The Jewish lobby and pro-Israeli advocates in the U.S. have enormous political power and influence in U.S. politics, mostly functioning to the overall detriment of American interests and influence within the wider Middle East and throughout the world. While the two instances of both Vietnam and the Middle East are and have been the main headaches for U.S. Administrations, a roll-call of American foreign policy failures tell a story of the world power in deep decline.
Other failures of American power and influence can be found in relation to Iran, Iraq, Cuba, Venezuela, Panama, Kosovo, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Korea, Pakistan, Haiti, Somalia, Kuwait, Palestine, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Grenada and all this because at one stage or another, the U.S. decided to interfere with local political processes.
In order for the U.S. to salvage anything in terms of its reputation throughout the world, a number of things need to happen.
1. Interference by U.S. intelligence and other U.S. Government agencies into the domestic political affairs of other countries should be banned through legislative processes.
2. The U.S. should withdraw its military forces out of Iraq and other places throughout the Middle East as part of a comprehensive peace resolution that would include Israel and other Middle East countries.
3. As the U.S. reputation is no longer credible within the Middle East, it should play no part in finding and implementing a comprehensive Middle East peace resolution.
4. The U.S. relationship with Israel must be reviewed in terms of putting U.S.-Israeli relations on a much more business-like, independent footing.
5. The U.S. should hand back Guantanamo Bay NAS to its owners, Cuba, and the U.S. should stay out of Cuban affairs.
6. U.S. bases in Europe should be downgraded and eventually closed, as should its bases in Korea and Japan.
7. The U.N., not the U.S., should further determine border and diplomatic issues between North Korea and South Korea.
8. The U.S. should comply with international laws and human rights laws and sign up to the international legal processes that it currently ignores.
In total, there is a place for the U.S. in world affairs but not under its current regime and not with its current extremist, bullyboy policies in place.
It will be up to future U.S. Presidents and their staff to find a better balance. The current U.S. regime has simply blown it.
