{"id":3421,"date":"2014-07-17T20:02:41","date_gmt":"2014-07-17T17:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cass-ro.org\/?p=3421"},"modified":"2017-11-14T21:28:09","modified_gmt":"2017-11-14T19:28:09","slug":"president-obamas-greatest-and-possibly-fatal-flaws-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cass-ro.org\/en\/president-obamas-greatest-and-possibly-fatal-flaws-2\/","title":{"rendered":"President Obama\u2019s greatest (and possibly fatal) flaws"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"President Barack Obama and his administration are taking heavy fire over accusations of failing to lead in foreign policy.\u00a0 Whether in Washington or global capitals, the White House is being vigorously condemned and chastised for indecision and for abdicating America\u2019s role as the so-called indispensible power.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cLeading from behind\u201d in Libya, failing to act after setting a \u201cred line\u201d in Syria over the use of chemical weapons, allowing Vladimir Putin free reign in annexing Crimea and dealing with civil war in Iraq are among the arguments citing Obama\u2019s indecisiveness and ineffectiveness.\u00a0 The result has been a perceived diminution of American power and influence and of Washington\u2019s authority to command respect and instill even a bit of fear through its policies.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
But these critiques miss the most crucial points.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
First, these complaints reflect historical amnesia about how perceptions of American power and authority have waxed and waned.\u00a0 Second and more seriously, the potentially fatal flaws in Mr. Obama\u2019s decision-making process have been ignored.\u00a0 These flaws should preoccupy the White House. Lack of competence along with the inability to execute policy is what should really worry observers most about the Obama White House.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
If global leaders are unhappy with the United States, have the 1970\u2019s and Vietnam and Watergate been forgotten?\u00a0 America\u2019s international standing was in tatters.\u00a0 The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the failed attempt to rescue 54 Americans held hostage by so-called Iranian students in the U.S. embassy in Tehran that year did not help America\u2019s image and helped lead to Jimmy Carter\u2019s defeat in 1980. Ronald Reagan\u2019s deployments of cruise and ballistic missiles in England and Germany set both publics and Catholic bishops in a frenzy of protest in the early 1980\u2019s.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Perceptions and popularity of the United States have always experienced a roller coaster ride.\u00a0 Events can catalyze nearly instantaneous changes of opinions about America one-way or the other.\u00a0 As long as the U.S. remains the world\u2019s strongest economic, financial and military power, predictions of its demise are premature at best.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the same does not apply to matters of competence and the ability to execute policy.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
From the 2009 Afghanistan-Pakistan (AfPak) study to the recent West Point speech, this White House has, with a few exceptions, been unable to demonstrate real competence in making or in executing its policies.\u00a0 The \u201cNew Start\u201d nuclear agreement with Russia; cajoling Bashar al Assad to forgo his chemical weapons; and the bin Laden raid were high marks for the administration. But, from the catastrophic rollouts of the strategic pivot to Asia and the Affordable Health Care Act to a seemingly trivial lapse in exposing the identity of the CIA station chief in Afghanistan, incompetence has been a hallmark of Mr. Obama\u2019s tenure.\u00a0 And the scandal over the Veteran\u2019s Administration has not helped either.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
In fairness, a government broken by vicious partisanship and a regulatory morass that probably would have made the old Soviet Union look like a capitalist paradise cannot escape blame.\u00a0 American politics are no longer about governing.\u00a0 They are about getting elected, re-elected and re-re-elected. Because of globalization and the diffusion of power amplified by the information revolution today\u2019s issues, crises and problems would have tested the best of statesmen from Washington and Pitt to Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
With two and a half years left in his term, \u201cNo-drama\u201d Obama is unlikely to change his modus vivendi.\u00a0 However, four opportunities can reverse perceptions of failing to lead whether in front or from behind.\u00a0 The first is exploiting the forthcoming September NATO Summit and transform the alliance for the 21st<\/sup> century post-Afghanistan, post-Ukraine and in light of events in Iraq.\u00a0 So far, the summit has been eclipsed by more pressing issues.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Second and third are ensuring the enactment and approval of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Transpacific Trade Partnership (TTP).\u00a0 Both pacts will provide extraordinary momentum to restarting economic growth and prosperity that will redound to the advantage of all.\u00a0 But, with the November Congressional elections pending and obstruction from senior members of his own party, Mr. Obama needs a creative strategy to ensure success.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Fourth is obtaining a verifiable agreement with Iran to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Make no mistake: whether or not the White House can overcome its lack of competence and its inability to execute policy will be the defining measure of Mr. Obama\u2019s presidency.\u00a0 If the answer is no, then these flaws will be fatal to his legacy.\u00a0 The NATO Summit will be the first indicator of what lies ahead.<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Barack Obama and his administration are taking heavy fire over accusations of failing to lead in foreign policy.\u00a0 Whether in Washington or global capitals, the White House is being vigorously condemned and chastised for indecision and for abdicating America\u2019s role as the so-called indispensible power. \u00a0 \u201cLeading from behind\u201d in Libya, failing to act after setting a \u201cred line\u201d in Syria over the use of chemical weapons, allowing Vladimir Putin free reign in annexing Crimea and dealing with civil war in Iraq are among the arguments citing Obama\u2019s indecisiveness and ineffectiveness.\u00a0 The result has been a perceived diminution of American power and influence and of Washington\u2019s authority to command […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,65,76,62,66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-americas","category-blog-en","category-harlan-ullman-en","category-regions","category-studies-and-analysis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cass-ro.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3421"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cass-ro.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cass-ro.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cass-ro.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cass-ro.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3421"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cass-ro.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3422,"href":"https:\/\/www.cass-ro.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3421\/revisions\/3422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cass-ro.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cass-ro.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cass-ro.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cass-ro.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}