Sometime in the next 72 hours or so, the United States will face one of its most direct challenges to a doctrine that has done much to define the geopolitics of the world as we know it. I am referring, of course, to the belligerent operation of a Russian warship in our canal zone. This action, or rather the blatant and unchallenged success of it, threatens to tilt the scales of world power yet further against the United States, even as it emboldens those that would destroy us.
While it is true that the United States remains the world's only true naval superpower, the AP reports that "U.S. officials have mocked the Russian show of force, saying that the Russian navy is a shadow of Moscow's Soviet-era fleet and suggesting that the U.S. retains far more influence in the region than Russia," kind of seems to miss the point. That European powers are now boldly and openly involving themselves in Western politics in general, and American politics in particular, seems to be the fly in our ointment.
The Monroe Doctrine, for those who need the primer, has defined Western Hemisphere politics for almost 200 years. When President James Monroe felt that Spain was influencing its former colonies to ally them against our purposes, he wasted no time drawing a line in the sand. In a great come-knock-this-chip-off-my-shoulder moment of American inspiration, he stated that "European powers were no longer to colonize or interfere with the affairs of the newly independent states of the Americas. The United States would not interfere with existing colonies or their dependencies in the Western Hemisphere. However, any attempt by a European nation to oppress or control any nation in the western hemisphere would be seen as an act of aggression and the United States would intervene (from Wikipedia)." This left jab at Spain, combined with the strong desire in the newly established South American countries to be free of the colonial powers of Europe, was largely what brought us the next 185 years of Pax Americana in the Western Hemisphere.
Instead of thanking us, which would be the sane thing to do, Hugo Chavez and his fellow travelers in the hate-America crowd have decided to antagonize us with bellicose displays of fidelity to their European patrons. Hugo Chavez and the red t-shirt crowd say a new day is coming. They say that America is in decline. Looking at the state of our markets and economy, a less informed person just might think they were right. If I were unaware of the misregulation, overregulation, and failure of existing regulations that caused our economic mess, as I fear most people are, would I also be susceptible to the sweet milk of socialism that most of the world sips?
The question of President-elect Obama and his team is how will we respond? Will we try and regulate ourselves out of the economic mess while we let foreign tyrants kick sand in our face, or will we draw a line in the sand and unleash American leadership on them? Is the answer to a problem like Hugo Chavez to legitimize him by trying to see his side of things, or is the answer to export American success and ingenuity to his still-hungry people, and repudiate him, and others like him, with our success?
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