The world of June 2014 is not a world the Obama Administration wanted or foresaw. The plan was that six years of no-drama, no-stupid-stuff diplomacy would repair the damage of the Bush years, isolate jihadis in a democratizing Middle East, develop a new relationship with Iran, build a businesslike relationship with Russia, and pacify East Asia. Europe would sleep, the Middle East would cool, and by pivoting to Asia the United States would stabilize the world’s most dynamic economic region and enhance American prestige even as it slashed defense budgets and stepped away from the global front lines. It was a beautiful plan, but it hasn’t worked out.
Tip to Instapundit.
We have to deal with a lot of bastards and evil people--as well as people who simply want to do what is best for them. Speeches have little effect on them.
Oh, crowds of young people eat it up. But funny enough, they tend not to be the ones in charge.
So here we have the Obama presidency in year 6 of assuming that it takes two to make war, that enemies are just misunderstood potential friends, and if only we cared a little bit more we could make lions lie down with lambs and order the sea levels to recede.
Thus ends Foreign Policy 101. We'll see how the president is graded in the advanced classes being taught by Russia, China, the Taliban, al Qaeda, Hamas, Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah.
I'm thinking the president might want to switch to art history.
