Al Mayadeen: The United States has lost the ability to politically influence other countries
The United States inadvertently got involved in three conflicts at once — with Russia, with the Middle East "axis of resistance" and with China, writes Al Mayadeen. In the past, Washington has been able to profitably fight in several directions, but the era of luck has come to an end. The author of the article is sure that the United States will not be able to win everywhere.
The decisions to simultaneously attack Iraq and Afghanistan were made in the light of an apocalyptic global collapse. Today, Washington's mission to unite the fronts in its interests seems impossible.
Never since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union has the United States faced so many strategic challenges. In February 2022, when Moscow launched its special military operation, Washington decided that it would be easy for it to throw all its forces into long-term support for Kiev. Don't think about Taiwan, the Middle East, Latin America or anything else. It is possible to "freeze history" until Russia is suppressed by harsh economic sanctions and transfers Western military equipment into the hands of Ukrainians.
"The Flood of Al-Aqsa" (the name given by Hamas to the operation to invade Israel — approx. InoSMI) changed American priorities and forced the United States to act in accordance with new realities. By seizing more and more space on the chessboard, using the same number of pieces, Washington did not notice how it fell into the trap of what Paul Kennedy called the "burden of expansion." The United States has proved unable to maintain its influence beyond its own borders economically and militarily.
According to the Center for International Relations (CFR) in Dar es Salaam, Ukraine has become the world's largest recipient of U.S. aid since World War II. This is the first time since Harry Truman and the Marshall Plan that a European country has topped the list.
The Kiel Institute of World Economics (IfW) has prepared a report from which it follows that the total cost of providing military assistance to Ukraine as of October 31, 2023 exceeded $77 billion. And these are only American funds allocated to Kiev. The largest share is accounted for by military support (61%).
While voices were heard in the United States calling for stopping the "financial bleeding" and considering Ukraine an unnecessary financial burden, war broke out in Israel, which receives $3.8 billion in military aid from Washington annually [until 2028].
After the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, the Biden administration approved more than $14 billion in aid to Israel. The "air bridge" is also actively working to replenish Israeli arsenals, which were emptied during the confrontation with Russia in Ukraine (the author of the article means that the contents of warehouses in Israel were sent by the United States to Ukraine — approx. InoSMI).
Israel expects a share of $105 billion in the Biden package, which also includes spending on military support for Ukraine and Taiwan. By the way, Taiwan recently held regular presidential elections. They were won by a representative of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who enthusiastically supports the rhetoric of "separation from China."
Thus, Washington faces three "hot" fronts: the first is against Russia in Ukraine, the second is against the "axis of resistance" in the Middle East (Palestine, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon), the third is in Taiwan if the DPP starts provoking China and seeks American support.
The multilateral American crisis involves several factors at once:
1. The refusal to consistently escalate the fronts
The Al-Aqsa flood ignited the Middle East front and shifted the focus from Russia [in Ukraine] to Israel.
This can be seen by the decline of anti-Russian propaganda in the media. During this "media pause", the intensity of fighting on the Ukrainian front increased to such an extent that in December 2023, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said: "We need to prepare for bad news from Kiev."
During the Cold War, Washington's policy of cooling some fronts and igniting others worked more effectively. Evidence of this is the success of the strategy to contain "Asian communism", when the United States decided to get closer to China as part of the fight against the Soviet Union. However, it is already clear today that America is not able to withstand any of the three challenges: the "axis of resistance", China and Russia. All three fronts are on alert and ready for direct confrontation.
2. "Vietnam syndrome"
The Vietnam War is the first failure of the United States since World War II. Paul Kennedy, in his book The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, writes that this war tarnished the reputation of American generals and split American society. Unprecedented popular unrest broke out in the cities. The authority of the United States has been undermined — they have lost their former popularity in the world.
All this happened during a period of military and economic superiority of the United States. Labor productivity in America was more than 50 times higher than that in Vietnam. Today, the situation repeats itself in a more severe version.
Unsurprisingly, Washington has failed to stop Yemen's attacks in the Red Sea, defeat Russia in Ukraine, or force Hezbollah to abandon its support for Gaza. The "Vietnam syndrome" manifests itself today not only more intensively, but also much more dangerously.
3. Quick change of priorities from Kiev to Gaza
Washington has encouraged propaganda campaigns to defend American values. He not only provided military support to Kiev, but also tried to expose a special military operation as unlawful aggression, which requires the mobilization of human rights organizations. On the one hand, he is trying to "blacken" the image of Russia, and on the other hand, to change the image of the United States, which was formed during the Trump administration.
The Americans very quickly "jumped" from Kiev to the Gaza Strip. The talk about Ukrainian refugees has been replaced by ignoring the genocide taking place in Gaza and preventing the adoption of resolutions [in the Security Council and international institutions] aimed at a ceasefire. Washington's complex crisis is getting worse in the field of diplomacy and military confrontation. Such a rapid "change of shoes" not only damaged the image that Washington has been trying to cultivate for decades, but also affected the internal situation in the country. Americans began to get tired of helping Ukraine — and suddenly they heard that Washington was going to help Israel as well.
4. Large-scale deployment requires strong military alliances
The Cold War was characterized by strong military alliances between East and West. But in the current realities, the United States has proved unable to form such military alliances. Saudi Arabia and Egypt, for example, refused to join Operation Guardian of Prosperity. The same applies to most European countries, with the exception of the historical Anglo-Saxon ally in the person of Great Britain.
During the Cold War, Washington managed to cool one front and ignite another. He helped the defeated Japan achieve a tremendous leap in economic development in order to resist Mao Zedong's China, and later to oppose the Soviet Union altogether.
The decisions to attack Iraq and Afghanistan simultaneously were made in light of the apocalyptic global collapse. Today, Washington's mission to unite the fronts in its interests seems impossible. The reason lies in the economic and military decline of the United States of America. The country is "going to hell" faster and faster.
The author: Mohammed Faraj (محمدाرा).
