A World of Difference

“What the Western World lacks, our adversaries have in abundance — a clear ideology.”

Regardless of the fact that America’s adversaries are universally autocratic, all are unified in one important aspect, their opposition to US hegemony; not because of our ethical composure per se, but because the US still remains the only single nation in the world that can unilaterly frustrate their ambitions. In spite of our dominance, America has become afflicted by what British historian Niall Ferguson referred to as our “weak-willed aspirations;” constantly vacillating between two perspectives – neoliberalism or conservatism, and two identities, either as the leader of the Free World or the willing victim of our own capitalist indulgences.

The primary problem, as retired US Army General Wesley Clark noted, that “Without a national defense strategy there there can be no way forward, and although we have a condominium of interests, we fall short on ideology.” And, as socially subdivided as America is now, it’s only a matter of time before our enemies make fish-bait out of a population that has never learned how to swim. Yet were not alone in that, as many of our European allies are facing a similar problem – the fracturing of the public space over deeply entrenched ideologies, political or religious. And that is the primary reason why the U.S. seems to wax increasingly incoherent when it comes to articulating a unified defense posture or a clear rationale for its geopolitical gymnastics. As a result, the problem has now become a question of trust. Although a open topic when it comes to the Rules-based Order, the West, ”as architect of that order, has begun to take liberties even with its historical definition of that order. While the lingering influence of The Enlightenment and the hard-won lessons of history have sufficed to this point, in spite of the challenges presented, it raises the question – have its inheritors now become so delusional in their thinking – “…seeing the world as we imagined it to be, and not as it is.” (Ferguson) that we can no longer defend what we profess to believe?

Consequently, one of the biggest challenges facing the West today is the collective instability of our democracies, each laboring under its own illusions, while competing with one another rather than cooperating for the good of the whole. As a result, many of those same nations have also become subject to “false narratives,” populated through the digital information space. As a result, we now see the reemergence of secular nationalism within Europe, and Germany of all places. The most recent evidence being the emergence of the German Alternative for Deutschland (AfD), far-right party, which just secured its first political victory since World War ll. In order to mitigate this tendency toward secular nationalism it then becomes doubly important for the U.S. to demonstrate the preferable option; not only by having a clear, predictable and principled ideology, but the political cache and military capability to defend those principles when challenged.

It follows then that any prospect of Ukraine’s future membership in NATO is a non-starter without a corresponding response from NATO members to subordinate their own interests to that of the collective when it comes to defense. Yet, the stark reality of the EU’s often paralyzing lack of will has historical parallels, as military strategist Carl Von Clausewitz, observed: “An absence of will to react can be seen as a weakness by a nation’s adversaries.” An opinion seconded by Oleksandar Lytvyenko (Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council), who recently warned: “What started out as a local conflict in Ukraine, has now become a war with global implications.”

To be clear, although its been over eighty years since the end of WW ll, the EU is still diddling around when it comes to defense appropriation, even while the table is being set for the main-course – conflict on the continent. Say what you will, but President Trump, in calling the E.U. out for their reticence when it comes to defense spending, has had a positive effect, particularly among the Baltic and Nordic nations. Yet, the creep of social liberalism in Europe may be its ultimate undoing, as the-rot-at-the-top is now beginning to realize – the streets are on fire. Put simply, the government’s petty interests have becomes its primary interest – “And these dogs are greedy, never having enough. Shepard’s they may seem, but only to their own advantage. Architects for gain, they lean on their own understanding, at the expense of knowledge, leading many astray” (Isaiah 56:10,11)