“What is America’s role in today’s multipolar world? Should it continue its traditional role of being the world’s policeman and leader?” Saritha Prabhu wrote for The Tennessean stating that the American voters should consider these questions as they look at the 2016 presidential candidates.
Prabhu points out that it is interesting to know what the US presidential candidates think about the fight against ISIL. Donald Trump said that he would bomb ISIL to the nines. But later, he said that Vladimir Putin should deal with terrorists. “Why do we always have to do everything?” Trump exclaimed.
Several other candidates, including Hillary Clinton and Ben Carson, talk in favor of introducing a no-fly zone in Syria. However, by doing so they are creating the preconditions for direct confrontation between the US and Russia in the region.
“Jeb Bush is probably the only presidential candidate from both parties who has pushed for a larger ground war in Syria. Which tempts the observation that maybe he really hasn’t learned anything from his brother’s misadventure in Iraq,” Prabhu wrote in her column for The Tennessean.
However, according to Prabhu, the situation with Islamic State is paradoxical. Without decisive action against it, it is becoming stronger. However, members of the international coalition — France, Britain and the United States — only use airstrikes to combat ISIL and do not want to send troops to the region.
That is because they realize the integral danger: “The area is like a terrorist factory. Similar to what happened in Iraq in the last decade, fighters from all over the Middle East will keep replacing the ones killed, and allied forces will be stuck there until kingdom come,” the columnist wrote.
It is more important that American voters realize that Pax Americana — the American peace forged across the world for much of the last century through American might — can sometimes be a burden and has come at a price to its people.
“Put simply, we always seem to have money for military adventures abroad but not for our citizens’ needs here at home,” Prabhu wrote.
It seems that President Obama is probably the first president to help the US people realize this, and the limits of military power. She mentioned that the danger is that when “America retrenches, the vacuum is filled quickly with destabilizing forces. There are no easy answers.”
“But as we head into 2016, we should realize this: Bellicosity and an eagerness to bomb or send troops abroad aren’t what make a good commander-in-chief. Rather, it’s steady, deliberate leadership with an eye always on the big picture,” the columnist concluded.
