Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben famously said that “with great power comes great responsibility”. Shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Time magazine declared that America was Spider-Man. My business editor thinks the Republican Party’s rebels must have never read Marvel Comics. Methinks they read too much of it and can’t distinguish cartoons from reality.
After its disastrous two-decade-long “war on terror” and ignominious defeat in Afghanistan, it’s clear America is not Spider-Man but his doppelganger, for whom the motto ought to be “with great power comes great irresponsibility”.
The ongoing political circus in Washington, the latest being the unprecedented ouster of the speaker of the House of Representatives, makes for interesting theatre, were it not for the worldwide ramifications and domestic chaos wrought by a dysfunctional Congress.
The Federal Reserve is now on a dangerous path pushing out the “higher for longer” interest rate environment further into next year. The US government has its fingers stuck in hundreds of pies – from the Ukraine war to climate change – each one of which it seems incapable of resolving. And yet, it wants to start a new cold war with the world’s second-largest economy, a country that has openly and repeatedly said it doesn’t want to fight the US.
America is terribly complacent. It thinks it is in a strong position to deal with not only China and Russia at the same time, but also North Korea and Iran.
It thinks its economy is doing well, and that it continues to lead the world, including China, in technologies, whether it’s artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotics, computer chips or bioengineering.
That’s “a glass is half full” reading. Other critics have pointed out that the glass is actually worse than half empty. But granted, like everything else, it’s all about interpretations when the “facts” themselves are disputed.
Perhaps that’s enough not to be complacent for anyone.
As the West’s proxy war in Ukraine falters, its supposed unity is fracturing. Even US military and financial aid to Kyiv is no longer assured because of infighting in Congress that brought down its House speaker.
US politicians keep kicking the can down the road yet few people in the know doubt that over the mid to longer terms, the American economy will have to face up to the runaway federal debt. Americans have got away with it so far because of the hegemony of the US dollar, but global de-dollarisation has started, not only by Washington’s enemies, but neutrals and friends as well because American monetary, fiscal and foreign policies cannot be trusted.
Former and possibly future president Donald Trump is said to have earned the disdain of US allies. But, despite its more refined rhetoric, the Joe Biden White House has simply repeated, if not expanded, many of Trump’s odious policies, the latest being reinforcing a wall at the southern border to deter illegal migrants.
Trump wanted to kill globalisation. Biden is killing it. Trump preferred unilateralism; Biden rallies America’s allies and makes them cry Uncle Sam. Trump didn’t care about the economies of allies; Biden is actively damaging them, from the unintentional effects of anti-Russian and anti-Chinese sanctions to deliberate global supply chain disruptions.
China has scored plenty of own goals, too. How serious or fatal they are is again a matter of “a glass half full” interpretation. Which side will end up winning?
The planet may not last long enough so the question may ultimately not matter. But suppose it still does in our lifetime, I will take advice from Leo Tolstoy in War and Peace: Victory from military or political genius is fiction. The best war plan is shot to pieces once bullets and bombs start flying.
So no one can predict which side will “win”. Tolstoy notwithstanding, Napoleon did say something wise once: if your enemy keeps making mistakes, don’t stand in his way. Easier said than done, though, lest you are the one who keeps making them.
2023-10-08 13:34:18
#Opinion #America #irresponsible #threat
