In the old days, when people traveled on wooden ships, at times sailing in rough seas for months at a time, they could not wait to get their feet on solid land again. All they wanted was to stand on firm ground, knowing that they were back on “terra firma” at long last. It took some of these people as long as a lifetime to finally recover from the strain and write about it.
And then came air
travel, and most people did not mind it because the journey from one point on
the planet to another, lasted only a few hours. A handful may be bothered by
the so-called “jet lag,” which is caused by the fact that modern jet planes can
travel at speeds that approach the Earth's rotation, but these people recover
from the experience after a few hours of sleep, and they don't think of it
anymore.
Whereas such
phenomena can be told by those who lived through them, and be appreciated by
those that hear about them, another phenomenon remains unexplained if not
inexplicable. It is that of the people who remain standing on terra firma, yet
travel in “cloud 9” with their imagination, seemingly incapable of returning
back to Earth no matter how great the enticement to bring them back.
And if you think
that these are nutcases that should not even be mentioned, my advice is that
you should think again. In fact, I'll tell you of a case that will disturb you
no end because of what it’s about and whom it is about. You'll know all of that
when you read, “The United States Must Marshal the 'Free World'” an article
that also came under the subtitle: “Together, Democracies Can Counter the
Authoritarian Threat,” written by Alexander Vindman, and published on December
7, 2020 in Foreign Affairs.
Do you know who
Alexander Vindman is? He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army and
former Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council.
Honorably discharged from the army, he is now a doctoral student at the Johns
Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Pritzker Military Fellow at
the Lawfare Institute.
So, you want to
know what he did that made him sound like a nutcase? The answer is there in the
article he wrote. When you read it, you'll get the sense that the writer is
incapable of visualizing the real world as it is, a dynamic collection of
societies, each having its own interests that do not necessarily agree with
those of others. In addition, this being a peaceful time, and every nation
living in relative security within its borders, no one is clamoring for a big
power such as the United States to protect them. And yet, this is what
Alexander Vindman believes America can and must do. The following is a
condensed version of the pertinent passages in Vindman's article:
“Biden's
leadership of the free world will be important, China, Russia and other
authoritarian states are on the offensive. Under a new administration, the US
must organize a concerted effort, by democracies and for democracies, to
counter the rise of illiberalism and authoritarianism. The US must host a
democracy summit. Uniting the democratic world against the present danger of
rising authoritarianism is not an act of idealism but of realism. The idea of a
democracy summit in not new, but the need for one has never been greater. The democracies
can help protect one another against external attacks. Ultimately, the summit
should include all the world's democracies. The US, in concert with the world's
democracies, can resist the coercion of authoritarian regimes without forcing a
direct confrontation between the two systems. The US must lead the democratic
world in defending itself from a reversion to patterns that could well lead to
democracy's demise”.
What you see here
is someone that wants to duplicate the Cold War. Like Churchill, he is telling
America that an evil authoritarian power is rising in the world, and America
must bring its friends and allies close to itself in a NATO-like organization,
to stand up to those powers, which are themselves coming together in a Warsaw
Pact kind of alliance bent on destabilizing and ultimately destroying the free
world.
By simply stating
that, “The US can resist the coercion of authoritarian regimes without forcing
a direct confrontation between the two systems,” Alexander Vindman believes he
can sweep aside the reality that the last Cold War was responsible for the
Korean and Vietnam wars, as well as cause the scare of the Cuban Missile
crisis. That's in addition to the dozens of smaller wars which the superpowers
had their proxies fight on their behalf; they who are the big power
instigators.
For these reasons
and for the debacle of the uncalled-for attack on Iraq that resulted in the
Levant flaring up and producing refugees by the millions, the European
countries that had to absorb these refugees, will never again join the United
States in any military adventure that will show the potential to repeat the old
calamity.
For a reason that is
difficult to understand, Alexander Vindman that has impressive credentials,
does not see that he is alone in cloud 9, dreaming up the return of an era in
which America lived its most glorious moments. He believes that he can have
this cake, and when America, “will resist the coercion of authoritarian regimes
without forcing a direct confrontation between the two systems,” he will eat
his cake too, thus have it both ways.
Hello, Alexander Vindman, knock on your skull and come home because this is Terra Firma, not cloud 9.