CALIBAN

Good to see more evidence of the premature end of what was arguably supposed to be the American Century. As far as I'm concerned, its demise couldn't arrive too soon. There were already signs at the beginning of the current century that this was the case, given the inauguration of the infamous "war on terror" following the 9-11 attacks. In my opinion, the USA's "upholding" of human rights was always overblown. How could you lay claim to that after flattening North Korea, or devastating Vietnam to no end? Nevertheless, one of the USA's (arguably) least destructive Presidents made a good case for this being an essential pillar to what has been dubbed the USA's "soft power". Well..., even that has now been jettisoned!

Patrick Armstrong, in a February 4, 2021 column titled The West Is Losing Its Soft Power, explains why whatever "soft power" the USA may have had is fast disappearing. He starts out by delineating the basis for what may have been the USA's "soft power":

I would argue that American soft power stood on four pillars: the attractiveness and excitement of its popular culture, its reputation for efficiency, rule of law and the “American Dream”. Every American could expect that his children would be better off – better off in every respect: healthier, longer-lived, better educated, happier, richer – than he was.

Then Mr. Armstrong proceeds to deal a devastating blow to the notion, with quotes from several articles by formidable analysts, commencing with two by Stephen Walt in the USA's foremost foreign policy journal:

America's History of Luck Is Running Out The Death of American Competence

Next, Mr. Armstrong demolishes the "American Dream" pillar of said "soft power" by citing just one graph. I will leave it to you to read what he writes about inequality in the article. The next pillar Mr. Armstrong aims his guns at is probably the "rule of law", but I deem it "freedom of expression". Here, he cites the Director of the Center for the Study of Digital Property at the Progress and Freedom Foundation, James V. DeLong, about Amazon’s decision to deplatform the 'Parler' networking service:

If 6 January was a new Pearl Harbor, extraordinary reactions will be said to be justified. But this is becoming the Western norm: where exactly is the rule of law with Meng in Canada, Sacoulis and Assange in the UK, or Butina in the USA? Will more lawfare against Trump strengthen the image of stability and rule of law? Neither will the 2020 U.S. election and its consequences advance the American reputation of democratic leadership. Some cheerleaders of “American leadership” like Richard N. Haass are quite despondent:

No one in the world is likely to see, respect, fear, or depend on us in the same way again. If the post-American era has a start date, it is almost certainly today [6 January].

Wow! Speak about schadenfreude! In summary, Mr. Armstrong points out:

Popular culture, competence, justice and values and the dream of betterment may have been the pillars on which the USA’s soft power was based, but the ground upon which those stood was success. Success made the others attractive; success is the most powerful attraction. The West is losing its aura of success – endless wars, divisive politics, COVID failure, financial crises, debt. And ever more desperate attempts to hold power against ever bolder dissent. It’s just beginning. And not just the USA, the West doesn’t present well any more: protests in Amsterdam, London, Berlin; a year of gillets jaunes in France. The world is watching. Not efficient, not attractive, not law-based. Not successful.

Patrick Armstrong ends by offering some brief highlights of the contrasting success of China, followed by a warning from the USA's "nemesis" from Russia. Go read the whole thing!

Oh! ... and Happy New Year!