America’s inconsequential global ‘leadership’

Discussants across the spectrum of political theater as presented by print, television and radio bemoan the disappearance of American leadership in foreign affairs, with the result that the world has descended into chaos. The overly aggressive President George W. Bush is blamed for pushing the United States into catastrophic situations, particularly in the Middle East and South Asia, only to have those situations worsened by the timid leadership of President Obama. In truth, American leadership is inconsequential, because it is not the leadership that other nations crave. They want American military assets and money, but don’t really have any interest in our opinions.

{mosads}Indeed, the day of marvelous intellect and dedication in government seems to have passed. Gone from government service are people like former Defense Secretary Robert Gates or former National Security Advisers Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft, who have been replaced by the know-nothings of Obama’s current national security team and the mindless hawkishness of people like Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

But the truth is that even the solid thinkers and theoreticians have been much more effective in their analysis of past events than in making decisions in the moment. As an example, one might point to Gates, admittedly one of the most dedicated and levelheaded of public servants in the last 100 years. In his book, “Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War,” he describes himself, while secretary of Defense, as fully on board with then-Gen. David Petraeus and his counterinsurgency strategy, ultimately an abject failure in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Gates is completely honest in his reflections upon this mistake, but again, this is in retrospect.

Since World War II, despite having the dominant military force in the world, we have fixed little. Arguably, we saved South Korea, but have not settled the unrest on the Korean Peninsula, which has only gotten more dangerous by the addition of nuclear weapons. We ignored one genocide after another in Africa, and have belatedly arrived to try to turn back the chaos caused by rampant corruption and unchecked terrorist activity. Events in the Middle East need no amplification. Even Europe, with our closest partners, has taken a completely different tack on many issues, especially concerning immigrants. The list is endless.

Does any of this matter? Not intellectually, and not from a policy standpoint. It makes no more sense to provide solutions for the rest of the world than it would to go next door and mediate in your neighbors’ marriage. There are always complexities we fail to appreciate (as attributed to the character Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them”), and no one wants to be told what to do. An excellent example of the latter point is foreign aid. We offer to provide a new power station or water purification plant to a third-world country. But no one wants us to send topnotch American engineers and a construction company. Instead, they tell us, “Just give us the money; we’ll take care of it.” The money disappears, and nothing gets built.

The same is true of military power. Our military excels in everything it is meant to do, and it is never a more shining example of American largess than when providing humanitarian assistance. Take Somalia in 1993 as an example. Marines arrive to make sure food gets to civilians starving during a savage civil war, but as soon as the military mission changes to ending the war, the effort ends in disaster, and Somalia has never recovered.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, uncounted billions of dollars have been stolen while American blood has been shed, and local bad guys, especially Iran, have only gained in strength. The truth is that no one wants us unless we’re spending money or killing people others want killed, regardless of what our interests might be. Afghanistan, a poster child for the American ineptitude in foreign policy, remains riddled with corruption and drugs. There are still 300,000 small arms delivered there by the United States that are still unaccounted for.

The answer to all this is simple: Let’s take a break from trying to tell the world what to do. Let’s keep American soldiers on American soil, waiting for the day our interests are truly threatened. And, most important, let’s take all that money we waste fighting all those battles and fix ourselves. We could repair our entire infrastructure, retrain millions, rebuild industry, meaningfully attack crime and poverty, and provide world leadership by making our nation something to emulate. Let’s stop being the world’s stooges, because we’re certainly not the world’s leaders.

Blady, M.D., is a former program officer for the under secretary of Defense for policy and senior analyst for the under secretary of Defense for intelligence.