Fiasco

 Some years ago I concluded that, whatever else is going on and whatever it might think it is doing, the West is in the process of committing suicide. By 'the West' I mean not only the geopolitical power block but also that precious bundle of hard-won freedoms, rights and principles that we think of, quite reasonably, as 'western values'. This suicide, driven by all manner of factors, some historical and deep-rooted, others of more recent vintage, is probably inevitable, and for now all I look for from any government, any polity, is some attempt to pause the process or, failing that, to slow it down for a while. By this criterion, the Trump presidency was quite successful, and the Biden presidency has been catastrophically bad. Trump might not have managed to put the brakes on, but Biden has pressed down so hard on the accelerator that his foot is through the floor. Thanks to his staggeringly inept handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the world has been shown with unmistakable clarity that the US (and by extension the West) is an enemy that need not be feared and a friend that cannot be trusted. The Chinese Communist Party will continue on its road to hegemony unimpeded, as will Iran in the Middle East, and Russia wherever it fancies. We can be pretty sure that nothing will be learned from what has happened, except by our enemies. The end is not nigh, but after this fiasco it is surely drawing nearer. Still, chin up, eh?
[I shall not be returning to this topic. Normal service will resume very soon.]