Self-Interest Takes Over in US Politics

Now, it is crucial for the entire world to understand how dysfunctional Washington has become and to take this development seriously. Nevertheless, the possibilities to influence have never been greater.

For a long time, the entire world has gazed upon the political game in Washington and found its premises amusing: the influence of the power struggles between the president and Congress, lobby groups and moneyed interests and complexity of fending off the autonomy of individual states with federal laws, which often leads to debacle and problems. However, they are not laughing anymore.

Because now, it is serious. It is time the world grasps how dysfunctional Washington has become reacts against the conditions that reign here, now far removed from those ideas on which the American system is built. It is no longer political theatre for entertainment — it is a farce that has started to become genuinely dangerous not only for America, but also for the rest of the world.

Going forward, measures are no longer about building long-term, sustainable, stable and sound strategies that safeguard even America’s own security interests, conflict de-escalation or economic stability. Instead, it is all about short-term, populistic resolutions that can lead to re-election — for the individual — and placate extreme interests. Gone are the attempts to compromise and the balanced dialogues on the complexity of reality. Instead of informing voters of what is required in order to manage challenges and lead opinion-building, politicians become hostages to radical elements flush with money.

What matters for a congressman or senator is not listening to the reasoned debate that is presented, but instead, at every opportunity, to turn his gaze toward the camera and compete for attention, say something forceful that can be uploaded on Youtube or broadcast on CNN and score fast political points that will invite further financial support.

The outside world must take these developments seriously, as today, we have a situation where the U.S. possesses an unthreatened military capability, is in the grip of a noticeable weakening on the world’s political stage and has a domestic political system that is close to collapse. This combination is unfavorable for the development of domestic policy in the U.S. and, therefore, unfavorable for future (conflict) dynamics in the world. Therefore, we should note the situation with the seriousness it deserves, which should lead to U.S. friends and allies applying pressure on the administration to trust in knowledge, moderation and balance.

This is no hidden problem in Washington. Every single informed discussion here refers to and banters over the dysfunctionality up on Capitol Hill. Every week, I attend a variety of events at policy institutes, and virtually every seminar concludes with comments on how disturbing the trend is. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates also describes in his book, “Duty,” his frustration with Congress, and at John Kerry’s last hearing, I was able to witness firsthand, the secretary of state’s distraught facial expression over the total inability of both his own party and some of the opponents to stick to factual arguments about the negotiations in Iran and discuss the issue as a whole.

When one follows the conversations going on in various policy institutes, and listens to the experienced and balanced reasoning that exists among these, and then attends various hearings in Congress, one can directly observe that oversimplified, “out there” arguments, often lacking all reason, have replaced the decent, nuanced conversations on various issues “down there in DC.” Gone is the collected knowledge that experts lift up, and forth have come the narrow-minded and short-sighted special-interest arguments, which do not serve the public interest. No solution is in sight. Rather, the issue looks like it can only be made worse.

And the tea party movement’s forward march is not the reason for this. It is the development of a political structure and conditions, and above all, the Citizens United law from 2010, which resulted in politicians being able to accept almost unlimited amounts of money from individual contributors – “super PACs” – which has frustrated a sound political process. The duty of Congress is to balance the president’s power, but today, it has become more important to undermine the president – even his own party members, if he is being difficult – delay resolutions and perfunctorily vote “against” rather than contribute to long-term solutions.

The black-and-white attitude found in Congress pushes even the administration in a direction it does not necessarily envision or choose for itself because the tone becomes entirely radicalized, and un-nuanced debates become universally applicable, spreading to the media and public alike. According to a few sources I have spoken with, many civil servants abandon their mandates because they feel it is “impossible” to work in a constructive manner.

Now, the world at large must not only realize that the dysfunctionality in Washington demands that we apply pressure to Washington on certain issues, since the decisions here concern us and can jeopardize our interests, but also that the opportunities for influence have never been greater because the U.S. is now dependent on a collaboration that steps outside the terms as defined by Washington. Level-headed forces need support – Congress needs international pressure to be applied in order to act on long-term public interests, which is in fact called for daily here in Washington, where many are perplexed as to where international political pressure is, and how long things will go on before anyone reacts.