SuperSam, ©2024 William L. Brown. The US is a superpower. But is it a superhero or supervillain? By what right is it the world’s police force? Who oversees and regulates it?
The US has the right of might. Its only qualifications are the biggest economy and the strongest military. The US superpower has no more moral standing than a self-appointed vigilante. There are no formal rules it must follow other than those it chooses to. Subject itself to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court? No thanks!
The US’s often-troublesome guiding principle is “America’s best interest.” Not all Americans agree on what that is. You can probably name a few instances in over a century of being a regional and world power in which our international best interests were at odds with the principles set forth in our founding documents, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The 1898 annexation of the Philippines, for example, sparked a fierce internal argument, opponents pointing to the hypocrisy of a supposedly anti-colonial country acquiring a colony.
People of other nations, those who may suffer or benefit from the US’s police actions, have little say in the matter. They quickly spot the hypocrisy when a world power bombs their nation in the name of freedom, but ends up controlling the oil fields and supporting the corrupt government.
In the US’s favor, when our foreign policies align with core beliefs: rights, fairness and freedom - our global popularity and credibility increase. It does happen, though the partisans on the margins always say it is a cover for hegemony, globalism, colonialism, liberalism, etc. When entities have a history of bad behavior, their good behavior looks suspicious.
The argument has been made that the US’s best interest is to base its foreign policy on its core beliefs. Unfortunately, only the Jimmy Carter administration made this official policy. Good, bad, and ambiguous policy decisions happen all the time and sometimes simultaneously depending on how the then-current administration interprets “US best interests.” Look at our current policies and actions in Ukraine, Gaza and Syria. Only someone with a full, unquestioning commitment to the establishment’s idea of “America’s best interests,” or a conspiracy theorist could find consistency in what we’re doing in all three regions.
It’s not the best arrangement and not above criticism. But there are no attractive alternatives. The United Nations does not have the power, nor is it likely to be allowed, to stop wars, genocide, or other violations of international order. What government, what citizenry, would be willing to surrender that much power? What guarantees are there that given such great power, the UN could be trusted? Absolute power breeds absolute corruption.
The US could willingly retire from the superpower/world-cop role, as both America Firsters and the hard-left would like. They say the the world should take care of itself. A tidy theory, but in reality it would create a vacuum into which another power would step. Consider that the second- and third-strongest militaries belong to Russia and China.
Most nations close to being strong enough to become world-police are authoritarian, eager to knock down western international law, bully and exploit weaker nations and dictate terms to the world.
There would be no democratically-elected government to act as a bulwark. Possibly the only point in favor of the US as superpower/world-cop is that it has a democratically-elected government, free elections, free media, free speech, so IF the right politicians are elected, they will base foreign policy on human-rights principles. It’s far from perfect. It doesn’t satisfy the yearning for the grownups to show up, make the bullies fix what they broke, and put them in time-out. But, there are no grownups.
All About US, ©2024 William L. Brown. While we’re talking about Uncle Sam; he may be a global superpower, but sadly, he doesn’t know or care much about the rest of the globe. When he occasionally does take an interest, he views the rest of the world through his own lenses. He takes little interest in other cultures and concerns, yet expects other nations to share his.
Wedge, ©2024 William L. Brown. Events similar to those leading up the Ukraine’s 2014 Maiden protests and Revolution of Dignity unfolded in Georgia through the spring.
Tens of thousands of Georgian, most of them young, protested in the streets when Georgia’s prime minister and majority party tried to pass a law calculated to sabotage possible EU membership. The “foreign agents bill” requires agencies, NGOs and media companies based in other countries to register as '“foreign agents.” Modeled after a Russian law which was used to harass and shut down NGO and media offices, it violates EU membership requirements. Georgians, especially young Georgians, are eager to join the western economy and to have western values and standards. By passing the foreign agent law, Georgia is brought back under Russian influence.
This is what Russia tried to do to Ukraine. Ukrainians voted for candidates that would bring Ukraine into the western economy, but Russia brought its influence to bear on the president and legislature. In Ukraine’s instance, Russia was not successful. The street demonstrations led to the President fleeing to his Russian masters, and a new President made good the promise to move closer to joining the EU. And that is what prompted Russia to militarily attack Ukraine in 2014.
In Georgia’s case, the president, who belongs to a party not in Russia’s pocket, vetoed the foreign agents law, but the majority party had the votes to overcome the veto.
The law passed in June. In July the EU halted the accession process and froze aid to Georgia.
Hands Tied, ©2024 William L. Brown. The US limits Ukraine’s use of weapons it supplies. Ukraine was not allowed to use long range weapons on targets in Russia. Ukrainians and supporters pointed out to the Biden administration that this gives Russia a huge advantage. It gives Russia a “safe-zone” to launch attacks from.
After last spring’s struggle to pass the Congressional budget, the appeal to lift US weapons limitations began. The above illustration was drawn in May during those appeals. Ukrainian officials made the case to their US counterparts. Ukraine supporters wrote opinion pieces, appealed to the administration and called their Congresspeople non-stop. At the end of May US eased the rules to include regions adjacent to Kharkiv, which was under concentrated attack at the time.
However, limits remain, and every day Ukraine cites deaths and destruction hat could have been avoided if they were allowed to strike back at all targets within range. The Biden administration is reluctant to provoke Russia, fearing a nuclear response. That’s the threat that Russia makes regularly - because they know it terrifies people, making them reluctant to act.
According to some press reports, Russia has taken the precaution to move sites further out of range. This is somewhat helpful as it gives the defenders a few more minutes warning. We’ve been through this slow, agonizing process many times, it seems. It would be nice if the US and other western powers could work with Ukraine to make a long range plan, a plan with the clear goal of victory. Only recently has Biden submitted a classified strategy statement to Congress, and there are indications the US is about to lift more targeting restrictions. Let’s hope these address current and near-future battlefield realities.
Here’s my friend Ekaterina reporting from Dnipro September 4. I lived in Dnipro for about nine months in 2019-20. It’s sad to here how the city has changed. Below are a few of my photos from that time.