You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Africa North
Spengler: World learns to manage without the US
2013-08-20
"America's whimsical attitude towards Egypt is not a blunder but rather a catastrophic institutional failure. President Obama has surrounded himself with a camarilla, with Susan Rice as National Security Advisor, flanked by Valerie Jarrett, the Iranian-born public housing millionaire. Compared to Obama's team, Zbigniew Brzezinski was an intellectual colossus at Jimmy Carter's NSC. These are amateurs, and it is anyone's guess what they will do from one day to the next."
Posted by:Uncle Phester

#13  All part of Obama's plan to help shape a multipolar world.
Posted by: mossomo   2013-08-20 20:19  

#12  Can't sit back. Not while the greatest commodity Obama is importing are millions of third world obamabots.
Posted by: Uneaper Spairong8790   2013-08-20 15:24  

#11  We're not broke because of the military we're broke because of dometic policy. That will have to be addressed.
Posted by: Hellfish   2013-08-20 14:53  

#10  China has a profound interest in Saudi security. It is the largest importer of Saudi oil. America might wean itself of dependence on imported oil some time during the next decade, but China will need the Persian Gulf for the indefinite future.

The US should frak, frak, frak and let the Chinese have a turn at keeping peace in the mad house and getting crap for their wasted blood and treasure.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2013-08-20 14:41  

#9  Given the political dysfunction & polarization in the USA at the moment, that is a non-starter.

Agreed. Doesn't mean the problems go away either.
Posted by: Pappy   2013-08-20 14:05  

#8  Re-defining those interests would be a good start.
Given the political dysfunction & polarization in the USA at the moment, that is a non-starter.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2013-08-20 13:07  

#7  To paraphrase Walter Russel Meade, the US canÂ’t get other nations to love us. The US also canÂ’t insulate itself from the world by walking away (no matter how tempting.)

The US has problems to solve and interests to maintain. Like it or not, aspects of both are beyond its borders.

Re-defining those interests would be a good start.
Posted by: Pappy   2013-08-20 11:41  

#6  Oh, I wouldn't mind continuing to help and look after our friends.

So long as they remain our friends.
Posted by: Steve White   2013-08-20 11:23  

#5  Build Prompt Global Strike. Keep improving BMD. Build a good follow on to Blackbird. Build nextgen surveillance sats. Shred most of the rest and come home. This will be hugely unpopular in many budget centers, but it is the way to go.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2013-08-20 10:18  

#4  I fully concur. Time for us to 'go Swiss' for a few years and simply watch the madness. If they get too close, say nothing and take their heads off.... followed by a return to watching.
Posted by: Besoeker   2013-08-20 10:08  

#3  World learns to manage without the US

...and well it should. Most here have issues with large expanding government. Most of which can be traced to the role America assumed at the end of WWII. Even the broad New Deal acts by FDR largely were ineffective in selling the Big Government model. It was the accomplishment of WWII and being left with chaos or commitment by the US that sold the expansion of government that today finally bears the fruit of 'national security' for the destruction of basic constitutional rights. It was the very centralization and concentration of power that was the intent of the writers of the Constitution sought to avoid. They understood at the core of human history was the constant thread for the accumulation of power. They also understood that at the heart of all evil that humans had perpetrated was the exploitation of such power. They choose inefficiency of the division of power over the threat that concentration of power would present. We pay the price for the worlds sins. Let the world pay for their own. If it is a direct threat to us, deal with it. Otherwise, care for your own. Everybody else does.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2013-08-20 10:05  

#2  President Obama has surrounded himself with a camarilla

That would be a dark latte camarilla, with absolutely no whip... to you.
Posted by: Besoeker   2013-08-20 09:46  

#1  Key point from the article that none of US MSM is remotely aware of:
China has a profound interest in Saudi security. It is the largest importer of Saudi oil. America might wean itself of dependence on imported oil some time during the next decade, but China will need the Persian Gulf for the indefinite future.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2013-08-20 09:07  

00:00