America’s latest strategic shift

On the other hand, American citizens are scared of another 9/11-like attack, and with fear looming large the nation will lose creative faculties, and this phobia can be converted in war frenzy. James Steinberg, a potential US secretary of state, wrote an article in Newsweek special addition issues-2008 under the caption ‘How to lead the world’, in which he had given a piece of advice to the next president. He writes: “To steer the nation in the right direction, you must begin with some core principles. Start by listening….To get off on the right foot; invite respected Islamic thinkers and leaders to an ongoing dialogue to bridge the gap between America and the Muslim world”.

America is bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan; its influence as the sole super power has waned and its allies have started doubting its ability to lead the world, because invincibility of the superpower was shredded into bits in Iraq, where the US and the coalition of the willing could neither stop the bloodshed nor stem the resistance.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban’s resurgence is due to flawed policies of the government vis-a-vis neglecting the majority (Pushtuns), and secondly due to the collateral damage that killed innocent people during operations by US, NATO and Afghan forces. As a result, the survivors of those killed in the operations are out for revenge.

They are offering stiff resistance and it appears that the US and coalition forces are in for a long nightmare with no end in sight. So far as US policy on Iraq is concerned, it may not have achieved all its objectives in the Middle East but it has been successful in eliminating the threat to Israel by destroying Iraq - the strongest country in the Arab world.

From the very beginning, there was a strong perception that President Bush’s strategy to take on terrorists was wrong, as he had often accused ‘Muslim militants of seeking to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world’. He had also described Islamic terrorism as a tyrannical heir to Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot and Adolf Hitler. Such statements and President Bush’s habit of shooting from the hip could push even moderate Muslims to the side of the militants. Being the President of the only superpower, it is his responsibility to ensure that no injustice is done to the smaller countries.