Victor Davis Hanson notes the darkening scene:

…But it is in the Pacific where we may well see the most dramatic changes of American withdrawal. Insidiously, the Chinese are translating their formidable financial power into a new muscular military profile. North Korea is as crazy as ever. The proverbially terrorized shop-keeper in the region thus does not know where to turn—to the mostly absent cop on the beat dreaming of his union pension, or the young thugs who demand protection money or else.

The result is that Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines have one eye on China, and one on Washington—and therefore are increasingly terrified. One of three things will happen: our shaky allies will demand a higher U.S. profile in the region, and new assurances of safety under the U.S. nuclear umbrella (all quite unlikely); or they will go nuclear and, unlike North Korea, their missiles will work like Camrys and Kias; or they will make face-saving accommodations with the Chinese that will result in a new version of the old Co-Prosperity Sphere (China 2011 reminds me a lot of Japan 1935).

Right now, I could not imagine that anyone in Taiwan would believe the Obama administration would say or do anything should Chinese ships tomorrow show up a mile off the Taiwanese coast—but could envision the most eloquent speech why Taiwan must inevitably rejoin communist China. Indeed, Obama would call on both sides for restraint, while chewing out the Taiwanese for provoking the Chinese, while working out a “balanced” deal that ceded Taiwanese waters to China—until the next incident.

In short, we will be back soon to about 1937. The old rules are disappearing. All that we await for is some audacious trouble-maker to make perfectly clear that there are no such rules…

There will be a World War Three, you know?  It will probably be launched by China, but it could also be triggered by some darn fool thing done by Russia, Iran or Egypt.  The bottom line is that we are returning to international anarchy as Obama’s weakness and our massive debt convince more and more of the global players that we are off the board.  The global school master is out on break…and now the delinquents have their chance.

There is a cold, hard fact of life that our liberals – like Obama – simply do not grasp:  human nature does not change.  Not ever.  The wars and cruelties of the past and present are not an unintentional result: they are the result of what people desire.  When anyone out there in the world desires something they do not merit people will suffer – in greater or lesser degree, but they will suffer.  Naturally, the more powerful the evil-doer, the more suffering caused.  No matter what situation you create, no matter how hard you try to be just and merciful, the nature of mankind ensures that some people will simply reject the path of righteousness…some people simply from base motives will act badly, and thus there will be horrible things happening.

This rather bleak fact of life should turn all those of good will towards those practical policies which will avoid or ameliorate the effects of evil.  Not get rid of it – we can’t do that – but reduce the frequency of evil, and the damage done by it.  An attitude of careful saving against a rainy day, of insisting upon everyone pulling their own weight, of providing and maintaining a very strong military force…this is what is needed to navigate a world in which some are out to do wrong.  At bottom it is a recognition of duty and an understanding that you simply will not get everything you want…because you have onerous duties to perform, there simply won’t be enough time or resources for every pleasure and whim which seizes your mind, even if some of them are of quite admirable intent.

Because we undercut the last President and then elected a complete fool as his successor, the United States is rapidly weakening – not so much in actual power, but in the perception of American power.  This will touch off a scramble among the ill-disposed to grab as much as they can while the getting is good.  Those who are wicked are preparing – building up armed forces, undermining targeted States and powers, preparing the global stage for their nefarious designs.  This will eventually lead to war on a grand scale – a war which we will fight, and we will win (truly, the power of the United States is functionally limitless and far more than any other power can marshal).  But I don’t think after this next big war that we’ll go back as we did after the two previous World Wars and the Cold War.  No, I think that those who will sustain the United States and carry us through to victory will insist upon some significant changes.

I don’t see a future America pouring out its treasure to rebuild enemy States.  I don’t see America tying itself to corrupt international bodies.  I don’t see, in domestic affairs, a “well, hey, we did all the fighting – but don’t you who stayed home worry about it, we don’t mind all the suffering we went through” attitude.  I see in that portion of America (probably still a majority, but controlling no matter what by simple willingness to put duty first) demanding that we end this charade…this fool’s bargain where we pretend that those who don’t work are worthy of endless support; where those who don’t serve in the military are as patriotic as those who do; where those who whine loudest get the most.  A new bargain will be struck, where those who do the work and shed the blood are given precedence over those who don’t.

False ideas can get a lot of traction and go very far, but because they are false they are doomed to fail.  For a century now we have been living in an Age of Lies…an age of con artists.  That age is coming to a close – a new age dawns.