World Leader?

The United States was a respected world leader following World War II. The US was respected not so much for it's military might but for it's philosophy and ideology. That respect declined at times, the period of the Viet Nam war would be an example, but for the most part remained high. After five years of George W. Bush and neocons that respect has vanished and with it the US position as a genuine "World Leader". Over at NewsHog Cernig has a must read post, America's Next Big Foreign Policy Disaster, where he discusses the tinderbox known as the Indian sub continent. Head over there for the details but I'm going to pick out a couple of paragraphs of a more general nature.

That's because American foreign policy is always driven by short term domestic policy. The opportunity to make a few billion and so bolster the domestic economy is almost always a primary factor in U.S. thinking when danger seems far off and not "right now". That's why 60% by value of all arms exports come from America and it is true no matter who sits in the White House. Its why even though the Pentagon touts China as a real and present danger and uses that fear to sell its newest fighter planes to Europe...well....Boeing and dozens of others have security-sensitive plant and technology in China right now and China is the only source of rare earths for missile guidance chips available to the U.S. military.

Americans don't actually "do" foreign policy - what they do is policy for foreigners that effects the domestic bottom line. It is always about the short term gain for America right up until the fecal matter hits the fan - and then America reaches for the bombs. And the fecal matter hits the fan more often than not. I mentioned before the American faith that two of its allies will never ever have a war between themselves. Only Americans could ever believe this bit of naivete (the rest of the world has gotten cynical after so much history America missed) but it has become an integral part of the rhetoric about exporting "democracy and the American dream".

Go read the rest. It's true and something you would find on the corporate controlled pages of the New York Times or the Washington Post.