Victor Davis Hanson notes what they see:
I don’t think the so-called outreach to Russia — which state has been much of the problem rather than any part of a solution with Iran — will help curb Iran’s nuclear ambition in the slightest. Iran will still try to cause trouble in Iraq and Afghanistan, and will acquire an atomic bomb soon unless it is stopped. And I don’t think Islamists inside the U.S. care a whit that Barack Obama is now president, except when noting their perception of a relaxation in our anti-terror efforts. And I especially don’t think China or Japan cares who is the American president, but will increasingly begin to call in geopolitical chits in exchange for financing our gargantuan and growing debt. In other words, some pretty tough actors are unimpressed by utopian hope and change, and are presently in the process of sizing us up to learn what are the new rules, if any.
The problem with the liberal theory that Bush was hated and Obama will make us loved is that its not based in any sort of reality. The United States is hated for what it is, not for what it does. Now, Obama’s plan to make us more like Europe – even as Europe slowly moves towards being more like the pre-Obama USA – might, in the long run, get people to stop hating us…they’ll switch over to just holding us in utter contempt. But just so long as we are the United States of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan, so the world will hate us. Though, to be strictly accurate, its not the world that hates us. The fact that so many want to live here is a stronger indicator of global feeling about the United States. The hatred comes from the leaders of the world – those who want to use us to advance themselves, and those who see us as an obstacle to their ambitions. A free, strong America is just in the way (though gratefully accepted, short term, whenever the chips are down).
In order to weave our way through the global scene, the thing we must do is adhere to first principles. This can best be expressed by the formula, “Democracy good, Tyranny bad”. When given a choice between the tyrant and the democracy, our support should always be given to the democracy (so, unshaken support for Israel against, say, Syria). When given a choice between two tyrants, our support should be given to the tyrant who least threatens us at the moment (so, support for Pakistani tyrants against Taliban tyrants). When given a choice between two democracies, our support should always be given to the democracy which has been most loyal to us over time (so, support for Poland over France, if they get in to an argument). Obama’s plan seems to be that we should be downright rude to friends, not at all concerned about Democracy and the worse the tyrant, the more we should give. This is a recipe for disaster – including the possible disaster of a world slipping in to World War, in the by and by.
The world looks and sees a man who doesn’t know what is best for America, doesn’t know who America’s friends are, and doesn’t understand what sort of people tyrants are. Our friends are dismayed, our enemies are emboldened – and the world grows more dangerous by the day.
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