United States:
If the recent financial crisis was hard to understand for Americans, imagine how it was interpreted abroad. What some referred to as a self-inflicted wound that never had to come to fruition, Washington seems to be governing from crisis to crisis with little resolve to solve it other than to kick the can down the road. That point will come again early on next year when Congress will have to once again fund the government and raise the debt ceiling.
For 16 days, the United States experienced a partial shutdown that resulted in hundreds of thousands of people being furloughed and forced to go without pay. A majority of Americans are fed-up with the political-wrangling at home, with 60% percent saying they would fire every single member of Congress, including their own representative, according to a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll taken before Congress agreed to reopen the government and extend the debt limit on October 16
The mess that Congress got the United States in has puzzled many, not just at home but around the world, as paying its bills is a central tenant of running a government. The political-infighting in Washington is not the problem or where the confusion is. Differences between political parties are natural and serve as a healthy barometer of a democratic system. Rather, the bafflement comes from the seeming desire of American politicians to allow the world’s sole superpower to default on its bills and that saw the government closed for over two weeks.
The latest turmoil has left some questioning America’s standing in the world. While the political crisis highlighted this, it is not the only example of confusion over what is happening with the United States’ credibility and image on the international stage. The Obama administration’s difficulty in pivoting to Asia and its approach toward Syria are only two such examples of this uncertainty.
Questioning its Standing in the World
IMAGE: BOAZ GUTTMAN
Missed Opportunity and Asian Pivot
More than anything else, the recent disorder in Washington allowed the spotlight to be front and center on China and its growing regional ambitions in the Asia-Pacific region. At a time when the United States wants to ‘pivot’ to Asia, the disorder back home further delayed this from happening. With no deal on ending the government shutdown in hand, President Obama decided to cancel his trip to Indonesia to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic (APEC) summit. His absence and the subsequent weight his visit would have played enabled Beijing to push its interests without any big American pushback that the president could have provided.
China’s premier, Li Keqiang urged leaders attending the APEC meeting to conclude talks on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). This China-backed trade deal rivals the US-backed Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP, which China is not a part of, was envisioned as a means of creating jobs and was viewed as a crucial component of the Obama administration’s desire to ‘pivot’ toward Asia.
As Mr. Obama was absent form the meeting, the TPP did not get the attention or boost it could have received. With China wishing to strengthen its political and economic clout in its own backyard and beyond, it surely took notice of President Obama’s absence and created an opportunity at the APEC meeting to increase its leverage.
As China was cutting billions of dollars in deals in Indonesia, the United States government was in shutdown mode with little the president could do but watch and wait for a resolution to the crisis.
Until the United States gets its financial house in order, including long-term fixes instead of Band-Aids to its economic woes, it will have a tough time refocusing its attention on Asia and countering the rise of China.
While the APEC meeting might be viewed as only one small bump along a very long road, it underlines a much bigger problem that the United States faces today when it comes to its prestige and standing in the world. Washington is so self-consumed in its own domestic issues that it has left many wondering the following: if America can’t deal with its own problems at home, how can they deal with the many problems that exist abroad?
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