America Has Yet Again Become a Symbol of Freedom

America should turn to Europe, and we have to support it in doing so. Never before has Francis Fukuyama’s theory about the end of history been more wrong as on the day of the Russian invasion in Crimea.

The principle that history likes to repeat itself has hereby been confirmed. It is not a return to the Cold War but, at the very best, the beginning of a cold period of peace.

Russia returns to its openly conducted imperial politics based on the presumption that military force can replace the power of arguments. Europe was not ready for such a clash, because of a mindset in which bankers are more powerful than tank operators.

Today, we need America the most since 1989. We need an ally whose foreign policy is based on values close to ours. We associate the Russia of today with a dictatorship and enslavement of the mind — America, on the other hand, has once again become a symbol of freedom.

After the end of the Cold War, Americans turned their backs on Europe. Instead, they turned to Asia, South America, Africa.

Now, sovietologists are in demand once again — they are being searched for and found in retirement or in dusty corridors of provincial universities. Europe faces a threat from the East. Vladimir Putin has done the impossible — he woke up from lethargy people who had long given up their hopes for a transatlantic alliance.

Poland’s interest relies upon Barack Obama’s visit in Europe, which has just begun — it has to show that this kind of an alliance over the Atlantic is doing very well. Fortunately, it is also in the interest of the president of the U.S.

America, and therefore Obama, must lead those who are waking up from lethargy. Only the U.S. is able to shake NATO to such an extent as to make it return to its primary task, namely the territorial defense of its members against attacks from the outside. Only America can head an alliance of countries that oppose the New Russia, which believes that by trampling the rights of the weak one can win the respect of other countries.

Obama will have to strengthen this position in America; the Democrats are traditionally accused in the U.S., oftentimes unfairly, of a too-soft way of conducting foreign policy. Today, they care about proving that that is not the case, because they are facing tough congressional elections this fall and a presidential campaign in 2016.

Barack Obama has to neutralize his opponent in an internal fight; therefore, he will be tough against an external enemy. The president of the U.S. has already shown determination by imposing limited but intelligent sanctions on Russia and by announcing further sanctions.