When the Soviet Union dissolved, eliminating our only superpower rival, we should have reexamined all of our obligations around the world. What made sense in the era of the Cold War didn’t necessarily make any sense at all when it was over. But instead of reducing our commitments, we increased them. We expanded NATO, for no damn good reason.
We got involved in the Middle East because of oil. The fracking revolution has eliminated our dependence on this region, and it is no longer required for our national security. As long as we needed that oil we had to stay involved in this hellish part of the world. Now we don’t need the oil, and we don’t need the trouble. Sunnis and shias have been butchering each other for centuries. If they want to get back at it, that’s their business.
I’ve started Peter Zeihan’s The Absent Superpower: The Shale Revolution and a World Without America. Ir follows his excellent 2o14 book, The Accidental Superpower, in which he described the foreign policy view that Trump campaigned on. You have to give this guy credit. He was calling for a Trump to emerge, and to say exactly what Trump did say, on foreign policy.
With no superpower rival, and with no need of foreign oil, Zeihan predicts a Great American Retrenchment. The way he sees it, we’re in the catbird seat. We’ve got everything we need, and are due for an industrial renaissance. We will have peace and prosperity.
Not so, for the rest of the world, according to Zeihan. It will all go completely to hell. I haven’t read that part yet, but you can see where he’s headed. Without the United States as the world’s policeman, there will be no police, no “law” enforcement. Everybody is on their own, and the strong will survive, and the weak will perish.
In other words, thank God you’re an American. Zeihan can get a little apocalyptic, but he’s basically right. I have more confidence than he does about the ability of other countries to figure a way to a better future. But one thing seems clear, to me. American citizenship is more valuable than ever, and will only increase in value. There’s a high demand for it, and for good reason.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s in the best interest of the people of this country that any immigration, from here on, be restricted to people that bring something to the table, wherever they’re from. If someone wants to bring a million dollars into this country, to invest, and spend, and put people to work, then that person is bringing something to the table.
Or we could use an auction. But letting law breakers have it is crazy.
reaganproject.com 