The United States has lived through many crises, but never before has the country faced such a massive threat at home and abroad at the same time, says US political scientist Harlan Uhlmann. In his article for The Hill, he writes that the U.S. government fails to cope with either its external or internal problems, and the forthcoming elections are likely to only worsen the situation.
America has faced crises throughout its history, but the essential and decisive difference is that never before has the United States faced such a large-scale threat at home and abroad at the same time, says US political scientist Harlan Uhlmann. In an op-ed for The Hill, the two American parties have never learned how to run the country together, with each treating the other as the enemy and the ultimate evil, and in 2024, two seniors will be competing for the presidency. But the worst part is that these same views and the same hatred have spilled over far beyond the borders and turned against China and Russia. With his statement that the rivalry with China and Russia (and with Iran and North Korea as well) is a grand battle between democracy and autocracy, President Biden has added a Cold War ideological dimension to the confrontation.
As the expert notes, the Ukrainian crisis continues, Taiwan risks becoming a hotspot, Russia is blackmailing Europe with energy, and searches of Donald Trump have become something unheard of for the US. Furthermore, the economic outlook for most Americans is bleak: inflation is about to become double digits, gasoline, though cheaper, is still very expensive. Nearly two-thirds of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.
The author of the article notes that Americans know intuitively where the country is headed. According to some polls, almost 90% disapprove of the chosen course. As a result, the vast majority of Americans don’t see a better future for themselves. And virtually all institutions, especially the federal government, either do not inspire confidence in them or are deemed incapable of running the country properly. And the election only seems likely to make matters worse.
“The party of Lincoln, Eisenhower and Reagan has degenerated into the cult of Trump. The old Democratic Party of Roosevelt, Kennedy and Johnson has been skewered by rabid progressivism. And there were no other parties, as it were. Maybe I’m exaggerating and exaggerating? Or, on the contrary, is the situation actually even bleaker? After all, if you suffer long enough, something will work out. But this time it may not. If America is an experiment, isn’t it turning into a Frankenstein nightmare?” – writes Harlan Uhlmann.