It’s Too Early to Badmouth the US

America’s international influence immediately dropped because of its economic slump, debt concerns and high unemployment rates. As a result, both the international community and some within the U.S. have begun to badmouth the country. However, is the it really in a slump akin to premature aging?

In order to strengthen the confidence of the American people, restore the country’s former “hegemonic” status and secure reelection, President Obama has energetically revised his strategy, with three changes, to have a more global emphasis. The first change is a move from counterterrorism to a focus on the economy, as fear of the economy has replaced fear of terrorism. Most recently on Obama’s Asia-Pacific trip, the big topic was the economy, with counterterrorism only mentioned once. David Rothkopf, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said, “The change of focus from conflicts in the Middle East to strategic and economic interests in Asia and from unilateralism to a new balance-of-power diplomacy may be the most important shift in America’s global stance since the end of the Cold War.

The second change is to create “America’s Pacific century.” Following the extraction of American troops from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Washington has accelerated its strategic shift towards Asia. In Obama’s September trip to the Asia-Pacific region he said, “The United States is a Pacific Power, and we are here to stay.” The goal is to reshape America’s leadership in the Pacific region. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also wrote in an article that, “The Asia-Pacific has become a key driver of global politics [and] harnessing Asia’s growth and dynamism is central to American economic and strategic interests.” Therefore America’s foreign policy needs to change and move towards the Asia-Pacific region, establishing a policy of “forward deployment,” as Clinton says, “proceed[ing] along six key lines of action: strengthening bilateral security alliances; deepening our working relationships with emerging powers, including with China; engaging with regional multilateral institutions; expanding trade and investment; forging a broad-based military presence; and advancing democracy and human rights.”

From this it is apparent that the new American strategy toward Asia is to use smart and soft power, to achieve the greatest benefits at minimum cost and further establish its hegemony in the region.

The third change is the new Middle East policy, which is to promote democratization in the Arab region, with the intention of bringing it into America’s orbit and enabling the countries to achieve a smooth transition of power. At the moment, America is building a democratic model in Egypt, has overthrown Gadhafi’s regime in Libya, made President Saleh of Yemen resign and is attempting to back the uprising in Syria. At the same time we can’t forget that it is also pressuring the regimes in Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies to be more secure. The initiative has achieved some success, but the situation in the region is still volatile and could become so again without American involvement in its development.

On the domestic front, the U.S. government also has “three points of interest.” The first is a question of employment, with the goal to reduce the unemployment rate from its peak of 9 percent. On Sept. 8, Obama brought up a proposal before Congress to stimulate employment, lower taxes and increase spending up to $447 billion, though the core of the package was to reduce payroll taxes. Obama said that the trade agreement signed during his Asia-Pacific trip would “boost nearly 130,000 American jobs” and help the U.S. “reach [the] goal of doubling American exports by 2014.” In addition, the Federal Reserve launched a new stimulus initiative, which Obama said will “shift the Fed’s $2.65 trillion portfolio of securities toward longer-term securities” and lower interest rates to boost investment and consumption, in order to “stimulate” the troubled real estate market. The second area of interest concerns the country’s scientific and technological lead. The U.S. government continues to invest in the research and development of new, high-tech weapons, as well as develop clean energy, in order to seize the international high ground. In medicine there are also a number of new breakthroughs. The final area is the military. Although the high U.S. budget deficit has led to a reduction in military expenditures, U.S. aircraft carriers continue to dominate the sea, the sky is filled with its unmanned aerial vehicles and the U.S. constantly violates other countries’ airspace. The establishment of overseas military bases and troops across the world is done to achieve the policy of checks and balances.

America’s position as “number one” remains secure, with no competition. As former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said, “The strength of the United States over the Soviet Union since World War II has begun to decline in the early 1990s. However, regardless of which country, the United States is still very strong, and not in a decline.”*

*Editor’s note: This quote, while accurately translated, could not be verified.