The USA Gradually Recovers From Shock

The Iraq War, the economic crisis and the political trend to the right have left their marks on American self-confidence. But it’s still not time for America’s swan song.

In the face of a miserable showing at the polls for Democrats, the continuing economic crisis and high unemployment figures, President Obama consoles himself and the country by saying the nation is experiencing a “Sputnik moment.”

He’s referring to the 1957 shock that followed in the wake of the successful launch of an earth-orbiting satellite by the Soviet Union. The Americans to that point had been out in front, having established the Atlantic system based on technical superiority, the Marshall Plan, the charms of democracy, and extended deterrence. But then they saw themselves as having been overtaken, humiliated and threatened. Was there really a “missile gap?” They then started a program to reach the moon, but that actually was meant to restore the strategic balance. And it was the Americans who ended up making the Soviets look outmoded in space technology, whether military or civilian. European know-it-alls made fun of Ronald Reagan’s 1983 strategic defense initiative, calling it “Star Wars.” But the Soviets sensed they had already been beaten: Soviet know-how in microprocessor technology was visibly inferior, as mainly evidenced by the determination of the KGB and the General Staff to save the empire by revolution from above. The rest, as the Americans say, is history.

Other Countries Look Gleefully at America’s Setbacks.

It’s always been premature to predict America’s decline, as the historian Paul Kennedy last did in his 1987 book, “The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers,” in which he described America and the Soviet Union as being in “competitive decline.”

With a mixture of arrogance and malice, it’s especially fashionable in Germany to portray the United States as being in decline, as a materialistic civilization and a flabby race. Both liberal and conservative critics in Germany agree on that point, and no amount of historical lecturing will ever change it — much less the realization that the USA has always been, and continues to be, the sponsor of German and European security and the defender of global order in trade and commerce, as well as the beacon of democracy for the world.

The Iraq War, a Drift to the Right and the Economic Crises

But the list of America’s weaknesses is also quite lengthy, starting with the fact that the U.S. has been living far beyond its means for decades and is able to maintain its standard of living only because it sends all its dollars off to China. Also on the list is America’s crumbling infrastructure, a war in Iraq that’s not over by a long shot — 50,000 U.S. soldiers remain in the war-torn country as the only bulwark against worse to come — and that in Afghanistan, there can still be no talk of stability and security after nine years of combat there.

Added to that is the fact that “America the Beautiful,” as the old hymn goes, is now self-contradictory. The “tea party” movement on the far-right margin of the spectrum preaches an anti-political theme of hatred for “big government” and frightens traditional Republicans in and outside of Congress. In total, faith in Congress is at an all-time low point among Americans.

The financial crisis in “subprime” mortgages and the failure of the “rating agencies,” along with the collapse of the Lehman Brothers investment bank, have left deep scars and shaken people’s trust in the government and the Federal Reserve. “Banker,” once a dream profession, has now become a nasty word. It will be difficult to find a new and sustainable equilibrium. The conquest of the House of Representatives by Republicans in the recent midterm elections was more an expression of resignation and anger than it was a mandate for action by those newly elected.

Good Indications for Positive Change

Nonetheless, a new direction is in sight. “Resilience” is the quintessentially American word to describe what’s coming and what, in fact, has already begun. It’s the tradition of self-help, neighborhood solidarity, and religious networks that is now swinging into action.

Even politics is getting wind in its sails once again. That was heralded by the administration’s ability to get a general healthcare bill passed — albeit with compromises. Recently, Obama forged a compromise with Congress on income taxes that was as unsatisfactory to the Democratic left wing as it was to the Republican right, but nonetheless showed that workable legislation could be enacted with compromise. In the foreign policy arena, Obama finally won a victory when the Senate ratified the new START Treaty. That’s at the core of pressing the reset button with Russia and shows Europe that the United States can and will continue to lead.

The Obama presidential campaign was poetry and his administration up to now has been prose. Now it’s time for him to roll up his sleeves, spit in his hands, and get down to work.