The Stars and Stripes No Longer Wave over the Globe

On the 70th anniversary of the landing in Normandy, the winners and losers of World War II have reunited, with Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama present among other European leaders.

In Yalta, Russians and Americans met to demarcate the limits of the “New Europe,” and in Normandy, they met to add to the list of their disagreements their respective merits in the liberation from Nazism. The Americans are convinced that they gave the most to the cause by disembarking on the coasts of Normandy; the Russians are certain the exceptional force of their nation, guided by the Russian army from Stalingrad to Berlin, determined Hitler’s collapse.

On Omaha Beach, the American troops paid a high price in blood by conquering for the United States the role of “world superpower,” which until then had been the prerogative of Great Britain. This image has been converted in recent years into the pillar of international law and order: Nowadays, the image endures significant cracks, above all because Democrats have made advances through President Obama, which contrasts the 70-year-old, unilateral U.S. philosophy toward foreign policy with a majority of Republican leaders.

After two lost wars — Iraq and Afghanistan — the United States is rediscovering the “indifference toward the traitorous and provocative cousins of the Old Continent,”* as George Washington called them in his political testament. This “indifference,” often called “isolationism,” is obvious from U.S. President Barack Obama’s participation at West Point Military Academy a few days ago: a true turn in the foreign policy of the United States because according to Obama, with various arguments, the Europeans oppose participating in the distribution of military spending among European allies, which is necessary for the defense of the West.

Obama’s participation at West Point Military Academy has confirmed what has been whispered about for a while about the “decadence of the American empire.” After winning the Cold War through Ronald Reagan’s intervention and his ingenious idea of a “stellar anti-missile shield,” American power has fallen into crisis throughout the world. The flag of stars and stripes representing the U.S. no longer dominates the planet. From the Middle East, distrust from Israel, due to the supposed interference through mediation to implement a “pax Americana,” is added to that of other countries at one time loyal to the United States. Saudi Arabia, with the lack of intervention in Syria and its closeness with Iran, has distanced itself from an alliance with the Americans. Turkey, a member of NATO, has also distanced itself from American foreign policy, and Japan, Pakistan and Latin America may follow the crowd, united in a desire for political autonomy.

Nowadays, there are two “new empires” that challenge the hegemony of the United States in the universe: “communist” China, with its economic power, and the new “czar of the Kremlin,” who has celebrated the annexation of Crimea, signed a “Eurasian” pact of alliance with Belarus and Kazakhstan, has a population of 170 million people and a production of fossil fuels that accounts for one-fifth of the worldwide production of natural gas and 15 percent of worldwide oil production. This is just one more step toward reconstructing a new “Soviet empire,” which the United States, along with Europe, can only threaten with economic sanctions.

*Editor’s note: Accurately translated, this quote could not be verified.