Obama in a Glass House

U.S. President Barack Obama has done a lot to raise the reputation of the United States again. However, he lacks the moral authority to condemn autocrats — at least as long as he does not abandon interventionist politics.

Yes, this happens when you ruin your reputation: Autocrats start to act as advocates of human rights, which they deny to their own political opponents.

So Vladimir Putin generously grants asylum to the American whistle-blower Edward Snowden because he would face torture and possibly the death penalty in the U.S., although this has just now been ruled out in an embarrassing letter from the U.S. attorney general to Putin.

Thus the Russian president has no need to waste a single word about having abused the legal system of his own country to sideline antagonists like Alexej Nawalny or Michail Chodorkowski.

Credibility Suffers

The U.S. would have good reasons to condemn Russia’s hypocritical behavior. Despite the occasional assertions by President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, the credibility of such criticism would be affected — especially regarding Pakistan, where the secret drone war continues, as well as the undercover actions of anti-terrorism special forces abroad, or the global spying on friend and foe.

Obama has done a lot to raise the reputation of the United States again, but as long as he does not abandon interventionist politics, he lacks the moral authority to condemn autocrats.