Saturday, President Obama gave a commencement speech at West Point Military Academy which outlined his new national security strategy that repudiates the unilateralist approach of the Bush Administration.
The president pledged to shape a new course one that is based on diplomacy and engagement. "The international order we seek is one that can resolve the challenges of our times," he said in prepared remarks. "Countering violent extremism and insurgency; stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and securing nuclear materials; combating a changing climate and sustaining global growth; helping countries feed themselves and care for their sick; preventing conflict and healing its wounds."
Many of the men and women he was speaking to are will be part of increased troop increase in Afghanistan. The troubling part of this new strategy is how it will play out with countries such as Russia and China who refuse to go along with the U.S. led sanctions against Iran.
The current situation in North Korea will be a challenge for this president as China will pose serious roadblocks for the administration in any efforts to punish North Korea over its sinking of a South Korean patrol boat.
The president may believe in this course, but he must realize the world is a dangerous place and the threats are vastly different then what we faced during the Cold War. Nations today are looking at what is in its best interests and may not want to go along with the United States, no matter how much we try diplomacy.
This president at some point will find out that his options will be limited and that he has to face reality not what he wants to believe the world to be. The best intentions have hampered leaders in the past and led them into disastrous situations.
At times the U.S. will have to go it alone or face a more dangerous world.
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