Profound consequences loom for the United States and the world
Some believe that today’s turbulent world is moving closer to conditions eerily like those of the late 1930s. Authoritarian states — Germany, Italy and Japan — had then seized the advantage over irresolute western democracies who had adopted appeasement in futile attempts to prevent war.
Today’s U.S. administration seems unable to muster support from a bitterly divided and increasingly dysfunctional Congress for military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Roosevelt had similar challenges from an isolationist-inclined Congress during his second term.
He was held in check from supporting allies like Britain by the Neutrality Act of 1937. Only when Japan ignominiously attacked Hawaii did America awaken from its slumber and marshal an all-out allied response. There is no sign of a similar awakening today.
The Biden administration’s foreign policy is on the back foot, unable to deter adversaries on several fronts. Internal political disarray constrains America’s global power. A recent Quinnipiac University poll of Americans revealed that 60 per cent disapproved of Joe Biden’s foreign policy while only 36 per cent of respondents approved.
For the rest of this column: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/derek-h-burney-as-america-falters-her-foes-are-emboldened