WPR's The New Rules: Obama Must Avoid the 'China Threat' Trap

No credible international affairs specialist would contend that the 2012 presidential election will hinge on U.S. foreign policy, given the state of the U.S. economy and the widespread social anger that one sees bubbling up across the country. What's more, Americans -- if not Beltway partisan pundits -- have achieved a certain sense of consensus on foreign policy under President Barack Obama, whose leadership has displayed a palpable "give them what they want" dynamic that reflects his desire to keep overseas issues on the back burner while he focuses on domestic ones.

Read the entire column at World Politics Review.

Comments

[Maduka]

I disagree with you on "symmetricization" - it will very rapidly lead to diminishing returns.

Focusing on the kinetics is not what superpowers should do in a complex and rapidly changing World. Somalia and Yemen are the poster children of symmetricization. In Yemen, the US has all but abandoned the real threat of destablisation of the poorest state in the Arabian Peninsula to concentrate on a "whack a mole" strategy.

In East Africa, the US has further destablised the region by goading the Ethiopians into Somalia and creating conditions that led to the rise of Al Shabab.

There is a real risk to the reputation of the US here. It's not that the US doesn't have the tools and the technology to handle bad guys, it's that US doesn't have the strategic competence to shape acceptable outcomes.

For all your concern, it's not your fight, it's our fight. If we discover that your drones do more harm than good, we'll find ways of chasing you out of our land and explore alternatives - like using Chinese money to bribe the bad guys to stay put.

Al Qaeda and its affiliates are not the only or even the major impediments to globalization. I come from Nigeria where three governors where charged with stealing $600 million, where the government spends less than $10 per capita on healthcare and where Transparency International estimates that Nigeria loses $3 billion annually to corruption.

These are the real impediments to Globalization. They abound all over the developing World.

Boko Haram which you will quickly label an AQ affiliate and the Niger Delta Militants who you dismiss as terrorists and itch to train your drones on, are merely the logical consequences of bad governance. We know that and we really resent your plans to insert yourself in a fight that you neither fully understand nor have the strategic patience to see to a logical conclusion.

As I said earlier, it is not your fight, it is our fight. If you insist on making it your fight, don't be surprised if we take up arms against the US and its interests and side with your "enemies".

The most important lesson from Afghanistan / Iraq is that tribalism / nationalism are very powerful forces. I don't think the US has learnt that yet.