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 what they perceive as US hegemony; not because of our ethical composure per se, but because the US still remains the only nation in the world that can unilaterally frustrate their ambitions. In spite of of the fact, 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, as well as two identities, either as the leader of the Free World or the willing victim of our own capitalist ballyhoo.

The primary problem being, as retired US Army General Wesley Clark has noted, is that – “Without a national defense strategy there there can be no way forward, and although we have a condominium of interests, we still fall short on ideology.” And, as socially subdivided as America has become, it will only be a matter of time before our enemies make fish-bait out of a population that has forgotten how to swim. Yet were not alone in that, as many of our European allies are facing the same struggle – the fracturing of the public space over deeply entrenched ideologies, political, religious or otherwise. And that’s the primary reason why the U.S. seems to wax 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 an open topic when it comes to a Rules-based Order, the West, as architect of that order, continues 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 they presented, it raises the question – have its inheritors now become so delusionally abstract in their thinking that they are in fact “…seeing the world as we imagined it to be, and not as it is,” (Ferguson)

Consequently, one of the biggest challenges we face in 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 fallen victim to “false narratives” populated through the digital information space. As a result, we now see the reemergence of secular nationalism within Europe, and even Germany of all places. The most recent evidence being that of the emergence of the German Alternative for Deutschland (AfD), , which just secured its first political victory since World War ll. In short, in order to mitigate this tendency it then becomes doubly important for the U.S. to demonstrate the preferable option; not just by having a clear, predictable and principled ideology, but the political cache and military capability to defend those principles whenever challenged.

It follows then that any prospect of Ukrainian NATO membership will remain a non-starter without a corresponding response from the NATO members themselves 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 does have 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 warned recently that “What started out as a local conflict in Ukraine, has now become a war with global implications.”

To be clear though, while its been over eighty years since the end of WW ll, the EU. is still diddling around when it comes to defense appropriation, even as 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. Put simply, the government’s petty interests have become 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)