The State of the World

President Obama and Vladimir Putin at the G8 Summit in 2013.  A photo is worth a thousand words.
Source:  www.google.com

Until this time in history, I never realized how important the United States is as leader of the free world and the world as a whole.  The world seems to be crashing down between our feet and I have to say it is because we do not have strong leadership from the U.S.

While I have always admired President Obama and I believe he is sincerely a compassionate and caring man, he does not have strong leadership skills.  Is that all his fault?  Yes and no.

Last year when he drew the red line in the sand over Syria and her chemical weapons and then dithered for what seemed forever and then did nothing, only gave a signal to the world and Vladimir Putin specifically, that we were weak.  And Putin has taken full advantage of that point in time.  

On the other hand, everything President Obama tries to do, from securing our American economy to being a world leader, he is opposed and brought down by our own Congress.  If Congress cannot stand behind him, what else is the world to think but that he is weak.

What happened to the days when Congress stood behind the President in times of crises and  world situations by putting politics aside?  Those days are gone.  We fight among ourselves instead of standing strong against the enemies of the world.

We have five major crises going on simultaneously now in the world:

• The Ukraine/Russian situation
• The Malaysian Airlines tragedy and debacle
• The Israeli/Palestine situation in the Gaza strip
• The influx of immigrant children and families on our border with Mexico.
• The Iraq/ISIS conflagration 

And, there are minor crises all over the world, Somalia, Myanmar, Syria, China, and N. Korea that can blow up into major crises at any time.

All these crises are the result of the world perceiving the United States and the western European nations as being weak.

Vladimir Putin is the world's bully and no one is standing up to him.  The Europeans are afraid of Russia and Putin because they have energy and trade deals with him, that if broken, will bring economic hardship on Europeans lifestyles.  

With Russia marching into Ukraine and taking back Crimea, what and who is to prevent Putin from doing that to any of the other European nations for that matter?  Should we be bracing for a third world war or a complete take-over of any countries Putin feels he deserves?  Are we looking at another Hitler?

The Malaysian Airline Flight 17 that was shot down is just one more feather in Putin's cap.  If the western world is waiting for Putin to admit it was a mistake and for an apology, it will not be forthcoming.  Putin does not apologize.  He does and takes what he wants, but he does not apologize.  To apologize is a sign of weakness to Putin.

We have lost some of the greatest scientists and doctors working to end the HIV/AIDS scourge in this world.  This loss is incalculable to the entire world.  We are destroying ourselves as a world by not being strong at the important times in world history.

One thing Putin should realize, is that the Israeli's suffer no fools.  They take direct and positive reaction when they are attacked, even when they are attacked by those less powerful than themselves like the Palestinians.  

This is also a lesson the United States can learn from the Israeli's.  Direct, positive, and military response the Israeli's have always had when they are threatened.  Had we put NATO or U.S. troops on the Ukrainian side of the borders when Russian forces gathered there, the Ukrainian situation might not have spun out of control and the Malaysian Airlines disaster might have been avoided.

The only way to deal with a bully is to stand up to him.  That is why Putin is getting away with what he does in the world.  He perceives the U.S. as weak and gutless.  We are not standing up to the world's bully.  Obviously, the sanctions the U.S. and western Europe have taken against Putin are making no hardship on the Russian nation, although Putin would not care if they were.

The Central American countries are crying out to us to be compassionate and take care of the children fleeing from the terror of out-of-control gangs that are running their countries.   With our borders that are like sieves which anyone can get through, we have only ourselves to blame for part of this crisis.

We can't take in all the oppressed and helpless that come to our borders, but on the other hand, how can we return innocent children to be taken in by these horrid gangs marauding their countries?

I don't have all the answers to solving these crises, but where are those in government than can solves these problems?  It is just as important for Congress to step up to the plate as it is the President, but all each other does is point fingers of blame.

I used to think the U.S. was in decline, but now I see the entire world is in decline and who will stem this?  Who will stop this?   Who will deal with these crises?

Copyright  2014  Suzannah Wolf Walker  all rights reserved.