The United States likes to promote itself as the world’s “indispensable nation,” a superpower with a moral compass which promotes the rule of law and human rights. Nothing can be further from the truth, especially in this region.

This characterisation was adopted in 1996 and first used by then US Secretary of State Madeline Albright, an adept practitioner of cold-blooded realpolitik who wanted a cover for US bad behaviour on the global scene. “If we have to use force, it is because we are America. We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see further into the future,” she declared. During and after her time in office this was dramatically untrue in the cases of Palestine and Iraq.

The US failure to see into the future – the most important aspect of policy-making – was exposed after the 1993 Oslo accords when Washington did not exercise its considerable leverage to compel Israel to pull out of the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories. While the Clinton administration (1993-2001) held the Oslo signing ceremony on the White House lawn, President Bill Clinton and Albright argued the only way to achieve a Palestinian state was through direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. If Washington had pressed Israel hard at that time to end illegal colonisation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, the “two state solution” might have advanced. Today there are more than 750,000 Israeli colonists in the occupied territories, making a contiguous Palestinian state impossible unless the colonists are compelled to leave.

Albright also joined the clique advocating an unprovoked war to topple Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein. This came about in 2003 during the George W. Bush administration and transformed oil-rich Iraq into a failed state.

The US assumed a global role in the wake of World War II. Although the majority of the country’s citizens opposed its involvement in that war, President Franklin Roosevelt was able to commit to the defence of Europe from the Nazis and Asia from the Japanese after Germany’s ally Japan attacked Hawaii in December 1941. During the war, the US built a massive and politically powerful military industry and the US established armed forces bases in Europe, this region, Asia, and Africa. The war boosted US prosperity, making the country the world’s richest, and encouraged Washington’s intervention in foreign affairs and conflicts. Washington falsely claimed it sought to install democracy and the rule of law.

US policies in this region have been doubly disastrous because of the attachment to Israel of presidents and lawmakers who have been unwilling and unable to intervene when regional peace was at stake. The current example is Israel’s current deadly and devastating war on Gaza which threatens to spill over into Lebanon and Syria and embroil Iran. Israel is being investigated as genocide and for crimes against humanity by key UN courts and commissions and condemned by this region, the Global South and many European governments and political figures.

The cross-continental US itself and its people are to blame for this state of affairs. Interest in foreign policy has always been low as there have been few critical issues or charismatic figures capable of galvanising the fractured US public.

Although US citizens identify themselves as “Americans,” there is no such nation as “America.” The country, a 50-state federation, is vast, divided into northern and southern, eastern, central, and western regions, sub-regions, states which insist on their rights, counties, and communities. Citizens are divided into four main ethnic groups, the 71 per cent White majority and Black, Hispanic, and Asian/West Asian minorities. The dominant Whites are also fractured into multiple sub-groups based on religion, cultural backgrounds, and occupations.

While 90 per cent of the population has a high school certificate and 54 per cent has a university diploma, educational levels vary from excellent to mediocre to poor. There is no national standard. Multiple levels of education and employment and earnings contribute to alienation and resentment. Alienated citizens are said to amount to one-third of the 330 million. They feel their voices in the faulty US democracy do not count. Decision-making in Washington and, even, state capitals is viewed as distant, unconnected, and uncaring.

Alienation afflicts 34 per cent of Republicans, 29 per cent of independents, and 25 per cent of Democrats, according to the Alienation-Barometer Report issued by Public Agenda. The high level of alienation among Republicans explains their support for Donald Trump, who has, since running for the presidency in 2015,cultivated resentment and anti-elite attitudes across the country. Trumps’s bullying, blustering, racist campaigning and rejection of his loss in the 2020 election have stirred up his alienated base and led extremists to mount the attack on the US Capitol while the legislature was validating the victory of Joe Biden in that election. Trump has warned that there could be violence if he loses the election in November. Polls show that he and Bidan are running neck-and-neck at this stage in the campaign.

Although his Democratic party suffers from a lower level of alienation than the Republicans, Biden counts on the lack of public awareness and interest in foreign affairs to grant him a free hand. Consequently, he became the chief advocate of Ukraine’s defiance of Russia over Kyiv’s push to join NATO which led Russia to go to war to prevent this from happening. In this effort Biden has had the support of allies in Europe and has not stood alone and exposed.

Having escaped negative repercussions over the war in Ukraine – which Kyiv cannot win – for eight demoralising months Biden armed and supported Israel’s onslaught on Gaza. This has energised and angered Democrats and pro-Palestinian university-age voters on whom he relies for re-election.

Regional powers, the UN, and public opinion in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America are highly critical of Biden. Biden vetoed three Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. He finally launched his own ceasefire plan on May 31st and a secured Council ceasefire resolution on June 7th. Hamas has responded positively and proposed amendments. Israel has rejected a lasting ceasefire before Hamas is eliminated, undermining Biden’s belated initiative. His defeat by Israel will show Biden that he cannot escape the iron grip of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and demonstrate to the world once again that US is not an “indispensable nation” but a rogue global hyper-power which never has to face accountability.

Photo: TNS