Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Daniel Larison
“Is America experiencing a crisis of confidence? That is the assessment of some world leaders from allied and partner nations in recent months. Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen criticized the U.S. at the start of the year, ‘Recent global events in the Taiwan Strait, in the Middle East, in Ukraine are all results of American hesitance to actually lead.’ As he addressed Congress earlier this month, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida chided his audience for what he called ‘an undercurrent of self-doubt among some Americans about what your role in the world should be.’ One implication of these complaints is that the world would supposedly become more stable and secure if the U.S. simply possessed and demonstrated greater resolve. Given the wreckage created by American hubris during the first part of this century, we know that this is not true.” (04/22/24)