Jace Brady
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There was a time when no one would dare move against American interests in any part of the world, least of all the Middle East. This era seems to have come to an end as American-backed rebels, attempting to topple the Assad regime in Syria, have been attacked by Russian air strikes. The civil war in Syria has been raging for years, has cost hundreds of thousands of lives, and has found the United States and Russia on opposing sides. Times have changed and Russia is once again defying the United States, testing the waters to see if now is the time to make a power move in the region.
Russia has spent the last week bombing rebel targets in Syria in defense of President Bashir al-Assad’s regime. This has left many members of ISIS and other extremist groups disgruntled, as more than 3,000 have been forced to flee the country over the weekend. However, these terrorists are in odd company in their opposition to Russian air strikes as the United States has repeatedly and vehemently denounced the attacks in Syria. These actions by Russia have apparently undermined the United States’ strategic efforts in the area but more importantly have started a power struggle in one of the most fragile areas on the planet. While this is bold action by Russia, it is not the first time it has asserted force in Syria to flout American plans.
President Obama had previously drawn a red line for Assad as he fought the rebels who sought to dethrone him. This red line was the use of chemical weapons that, Obama claimed, would elicit a firm military response from the United States. Eventually, evidence came out that Assad had indeed used chemical weapons and the red line had been crossed. Enter Russia. Russia insisted the United States take no military action and strategically placed its navy so any air strikes could be intercepted. Russia warned the U.S. that any military effort against Syria would be met with equal force from Russia. Obama refused to follow through on his threat of military action having been sufficiently intimidated by the Russians. This act of defiance by Russia and Obama’s surrender has changed the tone in the Middle East. America is no longer the unquestioned influence and power in the region.
Russia’s actions in Syria demonstrate that America’s influence in the world is waning. We have all heard the line, “America’s enemies no longer fear us and her allies no longer trust us.” I certainly believe this is true and we need to maintain a strong military to protect ourselves from foreign threats. However, America has been the world’s policeman for a long time at the cost of billions of dollars and thousands of American lives. Perhaps the time has come to loosen our grip on the world and allow countries to solve their problems on their own. We don’t have a terribly good track record in the places we have become involved and often find ourselves in a worse situation than before. Perhaps it is time to let the lessons of history teach us and finally become more judicious when asserting our will around the world.
