| | | Michael Doran's Our Man in Moscow is one of the most incisive pieces of ME analysis I have read in a very long time.
Many thanks for linking it.
Obama's toxic idealism has never been explained so well. It is so toxic that it is reasonable for even the most even-handed to wonder if something other than idealism is at play. Something more devious, more malevolent. Or perhaps his narcissism is so overwhelming that he honestly believes that his 'good' deeds and will can change human nature or historical and political dynamics. Doran's comment that Obama serves as his own Kissinger is a telling and astute commentary in this regard.
Obama's self-designed foreign policy has given us a flawed Iran nuclear deal, a resurgent Russia with more influence in the ME than its hard-power would otherwise justify, and a more significant relationship between Russia and the Western Europeans on matters such as terrorism and refugees. In other words, Obama has by virtue of his policies allowed the influence of the United States, relative to Russia's and Iran's, to decline.
But the most important repercussion of this failed gambit is not simply that our influence has been intentionally diminished by our own leader, but that it has had and will have unexpected consequences far beyond our lessened power. For example, it gives Iran a very substantial leg up in extending its own malevolent policies. This is the single criticism I have of the article: it did not sufficiently explore how the opening in the ME to Russia brings into play an expansion of Iran's influence and how that increased influence is enormously dangerous to the region and to the world. I can see disastrous consequences on our own soil resulting from Russia's lobbying for, and Obama's acceptance of, Iran's ICBM program.
So, no, it is not only about Russia, it is about Iran, too. Ignoring nuclear weapons and state-sponsored terrorism for the moment, can you imagine what the world's energy sector would look like if Iran, Russia and a majority Shia Iraq act in concert in connection with oil supplies? Or they take steps against Saudi Arabia?
The issues brought up by Doran are significant to this election. Do we really want more Obama/Clinton/Kerry mismanagement of our foreign policy? Obama I think will be judged harshly by history. He has played a very dangerous game with very dangerous people, and has lost it. He has set the stage for danger to us on our soil.
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