4 January 2008
There is a huge task for our next president whomever it may be. The damage to America’s reputation, and it’s authority abroad, is hard to imagine. It may take a generation to undo the damage that Bush has done abroad to our country during his presidency. When Bush was first elected, the U.S. stood in the world as a superpower unchallenged in its military and political reach and in its economic success. We were a country that most of the world not only feared and wanted to be like. In five years, all that went down the toilet. Now, no one thinks U.S. power is absolute or its forces unbeatable.
We need to mend fences big time. The next president needs to find a strong Secretary of State that has powers to implement new foreign policies, and relations. In economics, U.S. global dominance has been trashed. China is now seen as the coming power, followed by India. America’s isolation from Kyoto and again in Bali. showed the U.S. as selfish and unwilling to sacrifice its own consumer indulgence for the sake of the wider good. Our position abroad has been made infinitely worse by Bush’s obvious ignorance of how other countries act and feel, and his stubborn refusal to listen to others, learn from his mistakes or adjust his policies in spite of failure.
In order to rebuild international trust and respect, the next president and his administration needs to rethink our place in the world, its alliances and its policies. It will need work through others and to recognize the importance of international institutions and to reorder its military-political balance. I sure hope that the American people pick the right person to tackle the huge problems to be faced.
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