Disillusioned, Disillusioning

When President Obama was re-elected, it was clear to many: Since domestic policy is dominated by paralysis and confrontation, during his second term he would turn his attention to foreign policy; he would be determined to achieve great historical feats to justify the Nobel Peace Prize he received in advance. Apart from the fact that an American president can never dispense with foreign policy, an intermediate appraisal [of his performance] turns out to be anything but pleasing and prize-worthy.

Here is the not so great: not least among which is the dispute with Germany over American spy activities, aggravated by German election concerns; more confusion than clarity in Washington’s politics vis-á-vis the crisis zones in the Middle and Near East; and with regard to the relationship between the U.S. and Russia, the White House seems to be committed to only taking backward steps, which has caused a cancellation of a meeting with President Putin. A new start? No, those days are over. At best, the planned Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are capable of giving little comfort. Therefore, nobody will be betting on their success.

Above all, it is what political scientist Walter Russell Mead calls the “flux” of American Middle-Eastern policy that gives one cause for concern; it endangers the world power status of the United States. Regarding the war in Syria, the Obama administration is as perplexed as ever. It is bad, even embarrassing, to admit that the Syrian dictator Assad, whose regime is strongly supported by Russia, Iran and the Shiite Hezbollah, won’t be disappearing from the stage anytime soon. This is the same Assad whose exit had been made a prerequisite for a political solution a few months ago. Russia has no intention of complying with American wishes; Obama’s Berlin Disarmament Initiative wasn’t even adopted.

Sitting on the Fence Concerning Egypt

Regarding Egypt, the Obama administration has set itself on the fence. They have become the punching bag for the Muslim Brotherhood as much as the other powers that the Islamists have expelled from power. The signals that Washington is sending are irritating; one calls the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood a putsch, and, in contrast, Secretary of State Kerry calls the military buildup good because it serves to re-establish democracy. The president, who had apparently believed Islamists were willing to accept socialization, remains in the middle. The result: America’s credibility in the most populated Arab countries will decrease further. The collapse of American attempts at mediation is proof. The helpless exclamation of Senator McCain in regard to the Egyptian unrest speaks for itself: “I didn’t know it was this bad.”

Obama is no dreamer. He doesn’t adhere to the idealistic belief that America could endure managing the anarchic state of affairs in the Arab-Muslim world. There are more reasons why the U.S. reached the limits of its power and influence so quickly; however, it is an ascription to a president who merely wants to manage from the second row, and who hasn’t found any stability since the beginning of the Arab Spring and has fooled himself about America’s opponent for far too long. There are still as many Islamist terrorists as ever before.