2008 Woodie Awards
Focus for the Next Election
As this presidential election draws to a close, what should we look at next time?
Axelle Rayrolles
Issue date: 10/29/04 Section: Opinions
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The United States of America's diplomatic position has shifted during the last few years. This shift occurred due to a number of different reasons I will not discuss in this article, however I will concentrate on what should be the primary focus in the next presidential campaign. We, Americans, are about to elect or reelect a leader as our President over the next four years; therefore let's make it clear that the United States' diplomacy is primordial in the current world order.
The United States has been focusing neither on diplomacy, nor on special relations with other countries as of late. On the contrary, our leaders are more interested in fighting with the countries not supporting their efforts; especially regarding the issues in the Middle East. Something not to forget is that the current issue of terrorism in our part of the world occurs there today as well, but can occur somewhere else tomorrow. When considering a "superpower" like the United States one cannot ignore its privileged relationships with many, if not almost all, the most influential countries of Europe and Asia.
To combat "evil" in Iraq and focus all of its energy there, the Bush administration set aside what solved and will solve many issues between economies of the world: diplomacy. Now, the United States looks like the "Evil power that does whatever it wants because it feels it can." Even being militarily, economically and politically powerful does not erase the fact that every country has some vulnerability and needs support from its allies in times of crisis.
Today, United States allies are scarce, and therefore it becomes weaker and weaker. In case of another instance of distress like what happened in September of 2001, even the strongest of the nations needs to be surrounded by, and feel the support of, other nations that can help with moral decisions, and with more resources if necessary. We have to realize that our nation made friends easily with strong entities in the past, but also lost them just as fast (if not faster) due to stubborn behavior and a feeling of "over empowerment." Many nations have felt their words ignored or unheard by the U.S.A. over the last few years, and especially over the latest world issue: the war in Iraq.
Our next political campaign should definitely focus on reestablishing lost or stagnant relationships with countries of Europe which represent an undeniable force to count on our side. Those countries are the powers of Western Europe like Germany, France, Spain, Italy, all those entities that have a significant influence on the world order. It is definitely in the U.S.A.'s best interests to rebuild strong affinities and alliances with a large number of those nations that altogether can have a larger political and economical influence than the United States alone.
The United States has been focusing neither on diplomacy, nor on special relations with other countries as of late. On the contrary, our leaders are more interested in fighting with the countries not supporting their efforts; especially regarding the issues in the Middle East. Something not to forget is that the current issue of terrorism in our part of the world occurs there today as well, but can occur somewhere else tomorrow. When considering a "superpower" like the United States one cannot ignore its privileged relationships with many, if not almost all, the most influential countries of Europe and Asia.
To combat "evil" in Iraq and focus all of its energy there, the Bush administration set aside what solved and will solve many issues between economies of the world: diplomacy. Now, the United States looks like the "Evil power that does whatever it wants because it feels it can." Even being militarily, economically and politically powerful does not erase the fact that every country has some vulnerability and needs support from its allies in times of crisis.
Today, United States allies are scarce, and therefore it becomes weaker and weaker. In case of another instance of distress like what happened in September of 2001, even the strongest of the nations needs to be surrounded by, and feel the support of, other nations that can help with moral decisions, and with more resources if necessary. We have to realize that our nation made friends easily with strong entities in the past, but also lost them just as fast (if not faster) due to stubborn behavior and a feeling of "over empowerment." Many nations have felt their words ignored or unheard by the U.S.A. over the last few years, and especially over the latest world issue: the war in Iraq.
Our next political campaign should definitely focus on reestablishing lost or stagnant relationships with countries of Europe which represent an undeniable force to count on our side. Those countries are the powers of Western Europe like Germany, France, Spain, Italy, all those entities that have a significant influence on the world order. It is definitely in the U.S.A.'s best interests to rebuild strong affinities and alliances with a large number of those nations that altogether can have a larger political and economical influence than the United States alone.