The New International Order

In his recent speech to the graduating cadets at West Point, President Obama stated that the U.S. engagement in Iraq was a "success." In a sense, the U.S. involvement became a success as soon as it accomplished its goal of overthrowing the Saddam Hussein regime. The question of why we are only now, seven years later, in the process of withdrawing our troops is a question best directed at the administration that planned and initiated our movement into Iraq.

Of far greater importance are President Obama's comments regarding Afghanistan. Chief among these was his stated intention to seek a new international order that can resolve the challenges of our times. This is, in effect, the Obama administration's statement that it intends to end the unilaterism of the Bush administration and give up the United States self-appointed role as the world's policeman. But Obama's emphasis on international cooperation suggests that the international community will soon be invited to assist with resolving the chaos in Afghanistan.

While the U.S. military, with its superior technology and resources, will always be successful in battle with the Taliban, there is no way a military force can install a stable government in Afghanistan. The so-called "government in a box" has not shown itself to be workable. If a stable government is to be created in Afhanistan, and it's not certain that it can be, only the Afghan people can create that government. Even now, the Karzai government is talking about an accomodation with the Taliban, and perhaps a shared government. The United States can provide Karzai with military protection from a Taliban take-over for only the next year or two. After that the Obama administration intends to withdraw and leave Afghanistan to whichever governing body that the people of Afghanistan will support. If the country is not united under one govenment at that time, the international community, perhaps initially in the form of a U.N. peacekeeping force, will take over the role of building a nation, or nations, in Afghanistan. What form the new "international order" will take will evolve over the next two years of Obama's presidency.