By Kelly O'Connell ——Bio and Archives--March 3, 2014
Cover Story | CFP Comments | Reader Friendly | Subscribe | Email Us
"I've said it before, but if Barack Obama had been president instead of Ronald Reagan, I'd still be a citizen of the Soviet Union." -- Former World Chess Champion Gary Kasparov Tweet
During the late 18th century, most Ukrainian ethnographic territory was absorbed by the Russian Empire. Following the collapse of czarist Russia in 1917, Ukraine achieved brief independence (1917-20), but was reconquered and forced to endure a brutal Soviet rule that engineered two forced famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died. In World War II, German and Soviet armies were responsible for some 7 to 8 million more deaths. Although final independence for Ukraine was achieved in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, democracy and prosperity remained elusive as the legacy of state control and endemic corruption stalled efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civil liberties. A peaceful mass protest "Orange Revolution" in the closing months of 2004 forced the authorities to overturn a rigged presidential election and to allow a new internationally monitored vote that swept into power a reformist slate under Viktor Yuschenko.But now the Ukraine is on the verge of civil war and awaiting invasion by Russia. And Barack fiddles, while waiting for the UN to scold Putin, while doing nothing, so he can acquiesce to this abdication of power. Apparently, Obama enjoys pouring American moral authority and might down the toilet, with a smile on his face and a song in his heart.
Summed up, the Obama Doctrine is a gradual retreat of the American presence worldwide--on the theory that our absence will lead to a vacuum better occupied by regional powers that know how to manage their neighborhood's affairs and have greater legitimacy in their own spheres of influence. Any damage that might occur with the loss of the American omnipresence does not approximate the harm already done by American intrusiveness. The current global maladies--Islamist terrorism, Middle Eastern tensions, Chinese muscle-flexing, Russian obstructionism, resurgence of Communist autocracy in Latin America--will fade once the United States lowers its profile and keeps out of other nations' business.It would be exhausting to attempt to list all of Obama's manifest foreign policy disasters. But consider some of these article titles from just the last year: Obama's foreign policy in a tailspin; Top 10 U.S. Foreign Policy Blunders of 2013; Obama's Many Foreign Policy Failures; Obama's Multiplying Foreign Policy Failures. One classic title announces: Cambridge Journal: Obama's Callous, Ineffective Foreign Policy Blunders Onward. But perhaps the best title was one which summed up why Obama is a confounding combination of cockiness, lack of deep thought, indifference, and under-education, is here: Obama Foreign Policy Blunders Fueled by Unchecked Ideology. Why else, during a crisis of the magnitude of the Ukrainian coup, would Obama decide to avoid an opportunity to educate his self on the topic? Yet the latest headline states, Obama Skips National Security Team Meeting on Russia, Ukraine! Certainly a Marxist ideologue could consider orienting himself on the details of a crisis a waste of his time!
A wise man ought always to follow the paths beaten by great men, and to imitate those who have been supreme, so that if his ability does not equal theirs, at least it will savour of it.This quote might help Barack find his way back from the Marxist wilderness. For example, instead of imitating Mao, as many of his czars have cited, he should embrace Ronald Reagan's revolution, and the ideas behind it. Machiavelli lists Moses, Cyrus, Romulus, and Theseus as models. Barack should add such leaders as Charlemagne, Lord Nelson, Churchill, and Washington. As Machiavelli mentions retaining kingdoms gained by sheer good fortune, Obama should include himself in this camp since he was not elected via leadership experience, and nor has he distinguished himself through success. Instead, Barack seems to cling to the belief he will go down as a hero by crushing the American state so the crippled behemoth will be rebuilt as a run-of-the-mill socialist tyranny. Tsk, tsk, Barack! Why not listen to Machiavelli, who offers this advice to a leader:
Therefore, one who becomes a prince through the favour of the people ought to keep them friendly, and this he can easily do seeing they only ask not to be oppressed by him.
View Comments
Kelly O’Connell is an author and attorney. He was born on the West Coast, raised in Las Vegas, and matriculated from the University of Oregon. After laboring for the Reformed Church in Galway, Ireland, he returned to America and attended law school in Virginia, where he earned a JD and a Master’s degree in Government. He spent a stint working as a researcher and writer of academic articles at a Miami law school, focusing on ancient law and society. He has also been employed as a university Speech & Debate professor. He then returned West and worked as an assistant district attorney. Kelly is now is a private practitioner with a small law practice in New Mexico.