The United States of America is a powerful nation and yet repeatedly it feels like we are weak. North Korea has concentration camps; why isn’t the US doing something? ISIS is still a threat; why isn’t the US doing something? Russia is aggressive towards its neighbors; why isn’t the US doing something? For a nation that is as strong as we are, it sure seems like we aren’t capable of doing a lot. So why are we having such a hard time projecting our power on a global stage?
Is it because of an incompetent foreign policy? Yes, but that's only part of it.
Is it because we are falling behind the rest of the world? No, we are stronger than the next eight countries combined.
So what is it? Why isn’t the US doing something?
We for starters let's get rid of one simple assumption: “doing something” does not necessarily need to mean guns, bombs and boots on the ground. Sure, a good old fashioned war would be fantastic, quick bang and the problems solved. We are not doing that because America traditionally takes the long view, and the long view usually does not like quick destabilizing actions.
Let's take North Korea for example. America could, without difficulty, march across the DMZ (demilitarized zone) and knock out the Kim regime in less than a week. We could probably take out the capital Pyongyang before and one had the time to punch the nuclear launch codes, and even if they did launch a nuke or two the US has the weaponry to swat it out of the sky and render it harmless.
So we repeat; why isn’t the US doing something? Because we are taking the long view. Right now the US is putting economic pressures on North Korea making economic growth impossible, because of this the Kim regime is weakening by the day. Eventually, the regime will crumble and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will be a failed state.
Once this occurs America will act but only as a backer for South Korea, who with a historical mandate will walk past the DMZ and create a unified, pro-American, Korean Peninsula.
If alternatively, we were to go in, gung-ho, guns ablaze, you can bet China would become involved, you can bet the local populace would resent an American army in their country.
This is what America is trying to do all over the world. Sometimes we do it well, sometimes we do it very, very poorly. But it is important to remember as citizens and as voters that foreign policy is more than guns, it's a lot of paperwork and a lot of talking.
Have there been some incompetent calls in the past few decades? Yes, absolutely. But is America a dying old relative? No. The fundamentals of the American hegemony are strong and we are still a force of nature. We are active on the world stage, but not always visible.
