America's Waning Power

The Washington Post has an interesting piece about President Obama's speech at West Point - the prestigious American military academy. He said American leadership would persist for the next 100 years. China, on the other hand, didn't seem to agree to that statement.

But it is impossible to say. No question, the U.S.A. will continue - and also probably for the next 100 years - to be highly influential. But as THE dominant power America will most likely see its power diminish dramatically.

Examples of American powerlessness

Right now the U.S. still has the strongest military, the most innovative businesses, and a strong economy. But how does that influence America's ability to dictate what happens in the world? Let's look at some examples. Syria, the Central African Republic, Iran, North Korea, Nigeria, Crimea. In which of these has the U.S. gotten its way? The U.S. is already seeing its power wane. So how will it look a hundred years from now?

Moving toward an even more multi-polar world

After the Second World War the U.S. led a unipolar world up until the Cold War when it became a bi-polar World. After that, the U.S. became the leader, but of an increasingly multi-polar world. Now, the U.S.A., the E.U. and China probably shares 3/4 of the power with the rest shared among the rest of the world. A hundred years from now the U.S. and the E.U. may just have 1/4 while Asia will be the most dominant. This is based on the simple premise that both the U.S. and the E.U. will have reached its natural limit in terms of people and economic output.

A hundred years ago - in 1914 - the contours of a new world order were just in the making. In 2014 it is impossible to predict how it will look in 2114.

Mrs. Schmidt goes to Washington

The Danish Prime Minister and current President of the EU talked to U.S. President Obama. Take a look:

Europeans are socialists!

Europeans are socialists. At least that is the common perception among Americans if Fox News and other right-wing news outlets are believed to be somewhat representative of the American populace. Luckily they're not, but still. They're quite influential.

But are Europeans socialists? Of course not. In some European countries, the state plays a bigger part in people's lives than it does in the U.S. But it is a far cry from socialism where there is collective ownership over the means of production. It would be a mistake - most people would agree - to say that for example Great Britain is socialist. All EU - and most European - countries are liberal democracies with free and well-functioning market economies with minimal government intervention in the economy.

Not a single EU country lives up to the criteria of socialism, and for that reason alone, the EU cannot be said to be socialist. The claim reveals a fundamental ignorance of European politics and social life. That the EU should be socialist is a gross misinterpretation of the political and social structure that exists.

The misunderstanding is probably based on the fact that some EU countries are well-established welfare states where the government plays a big part in terms of health care and education. But having a strong welfare state doesn't mean the country is socialist.

Seeing how the Tea Party movement in the U.S. raves on about socialism in the U.S. is a bit bewildering when you observe it from across the Atlantic. How come no one is questioning whether or the Tea Party movement even knows what socialism entails?

The Tea Party movement's insistence on labeling the E.U. as socialist can be seen as nationalism in disguise. And questioning if President Obama is even a legitimate citizen - despite overwhelming evidence that he is - is either insane, improbably ignorant, or racist.

Good blogs about U.S. and E.U. politics

I've found a few links for those of you who want to get other bloggers' views on politics in the U.S. and the E.U., respectively.

For informed comments on U.S. politics I recommend Talking Points Memo, which was founded by Josh Marshall. Josh Marshall holds a Ph.D. in history from Cornell University and is one of brightest bloggers around. The blog slants to the left, but is always well-informed, credible, and well-written. Plus, it often links to relevant video clips to illuminate its points.

Andrew Sullivan's blog, The Daily Dish, is a good read. Like Josh Marshall he holds a Ph.D., but from Harvard. His is in political science from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Despite his conservative stance, he's a reasonable one contrary to many other conservatives who receive media attention. He is not too proud to give credit where credit is due, e.g. in the case of President Obama.

Also, Daniel Drezner, who is professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, holds a Ph.D. in political science from Stanford and offers his expertise on American foreign policy in an insightful - and concise - way. Read more here.

Blogs about E.U. politics are - admittedly - hard to find. Especially ones that are readable and credible at the same time. However, I did find a couple, which offer some of the same qualities as the ones listed above about U.S. politics. The Financial Times has this one, which is quite good. Yet, it's missing the personal touch, which the other ones have, since the sender is a news paper and not an individual blogger. Nosemonkey's EUtopia, however, is entertaining, informative, and one of the best blogs around about E.U. affairs. So use this as a starting point. It's hard to classify according to a left-right scale (who are most pro-EU - the right or the left?). But judging from the tone, I assume it's centre-left. Let me know if you disagree :-)

That's all for now. Enjoy the read.

NEW ADDITION: This one is from the The Foreign Policy Association. Good stuff!