America Is Suffering a Power Outage…and the Rest of the World Knows It

[unhappycamper]

America Is Suffering a Power Outage…and the Rest of the World Knows It
Thursday 23 September 2010
by: Dilip Hiro | TomDispatch | News Analysis

“Make poverty history!” A catchy slogan, and an admirable aim, it was adopted by world leaders at the United Nations summit in New York on the eve of the New Millennium. A decade later, it is America which has made history -- even if in the opposite direction. The latest U.S. Census Bureau statistics show that, in 2009, one in seven Americans was living below the poverty line, the highest figure in half a century. Last month’s 95,000-plus home foreclosures broke all records.

~snip~

In whole regions of the world, U.S. power is in flux, but on the whole in retreat. The United States remains a powerful nation with a military to match. It still has undeniable heft on the global stage, but its power slippage is no less real for that -- and, by any measure, irreversible. Whatever the twenty-first century may prove to be, it will not be the American century.

Those familiar with stock exchanges know that the share price of a dwindling company does not go over a cliff in a free fall. It declines, attracts new buyers, recovers much of its lost ground, only to fall further the next time around. Such is the case with U.S. “stock” in the world. The peak American moment as the sole superpower is now well past -- and there’s no overall recovery in sight, only a marginal chance of success in areas such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where the United States remains the only major power whose clout counts.

For almost a decade, Washington poured huge amounts of money, blood, military power, and diplomatic capital into self-inflicted wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Meanwhile, the U.S. lost ground in South America and all of Africa, even Egypt. Its long-running wars also highlighted the limitations of the power of conventional weaponry and the military doctrine of applying overwhelming force against the enemy.

As the high command at the Pentagon trains a whole new generation of soldiers and officers in counterinsurgency warfare, which requires the arduous, time-consuming tasks of mastering alien cultures and foreign languages, "the enemy," well versed in the use of the Internet, will forge new tactics. Given the growing economic strength of China, Brazil, and India, among other rising powers, U.S. influence will continue to wane. The American power outage is, by any measure, irreversible.

[lunatica]

1. Some people think that loss of world power is a bad thing

This is at the foundation of the teabaggers' lament and the reason we hear them wailing and see them marching in their rage. The loss of womp ass Superpower in the world. If we can't fucking bomb their asses to show them who's boss then what will happen to us?!

I say good riddance to a country that runs on a foreign policy of military aggression to sustain it's power in the world. If we can't adapt to being an equal in the world then we don't deserve to be. You'd think with the incredible mixture of immigrants from all over the world that we'd be perfect for reflecting world views at their best.

You'd think.

[sendero]

2. Probably so...

... and it was their party of choice, the Republicans, that drove the stake through America's heart with pointless unwinnable wars and foolish deregulation.

Between that and having a black president, it has finally unhinged the barely hinged to begin with that are most Tea baggers.