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WAR AND ECONOMIC CRISIS IN OBAMA'S PRESIDENCY

President Barack Obama's handling of the Syrian Civil War leads to questions about his leadership and decision-making ability. The president's indecisiveness and back pedaling on the decision to use military force against Syria's Assad regime once again gives his critics ammunition when it comes to questioning his strength as a leader. After much tough talk of no tolerance for the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war, Obama curbed his threats and acquiesced to Russia's proposal to have the Assad regime surrender all of its chemical weapons to the International Community. Some observers think that Mr. Obama was politically outmaneuvered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who used the opportunity to strengthen Russia's diplomatic arm by standing up to the United States at a time when Russia is in recession and Mr. Putin's popularity was waning. Mr. Putin is now looked at as someone who stood up to the only nation Russia fears, and was able to get it to change its course relative to military strategy and action. President Obama's indecision allowed Russia to avoid what it did not want and that was regime change in Syria.

Chinese political analysts believe that Mr. Obama has weakened his stance as a leader and America's position in the world. Furthermore, the Chinese think that Washington has lost a sense of direction in the Middle East. Britain, France, and Germany are all in favor of the resolution crafted by Russian President Putin. Arab leaders in the Gulf States are incensed at what they described as a "failure to act," yet the broader Arab community is very much divided on Syria and the course of action needed to deal with the civil war. A predominant view of President Obama in the Arab world centers on him delivering nice words, yet there is no action behind his words. Turkey, which has had to contend with an influx of Syrian refugees at its borders, was in favor of a U. S. military strike.

Syria's government has alluded to the fact that it could raise an issue with Israel's suspected nuclear arsenal and other weapons of mass destruction in lieu of being made to destroy what United States officials estimate to be 1000 tons of chemical weapons. Vladimir Putin has defended the Syrian stockpile as a deterrent to Israel. There is already talk in the Arab world that Israel has chemical weapons in addition to its nuclear weapons, on which the United States has never publicly commented. Iran could possibly begin to make problems over its enforced nuclear compliance if Israel is not confronted on the issue of nuclear weapons. On September 13, President Obama sent Secretary of State John Kerry to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi for extended talks in Geneva, Switzerland, about how to handle the crisis. Talks are said to be continuing in the upcoming weeks beyond the Geneva meetings with no definitive timetable or timeline.

New polls reveal that a large proportion of the American public gives Mr. Obama negative ratings. From August 23 through 28, a national telephone survey (Wenzel Strategies) with a margin of error of 3.67 percentage points was administered. The poll reveals that the president has an approval rating of 41 percent, while 57 percent give him negative ratings. Twenty-one percent of people considered "very liberal" gave Mr. Obama negative ratings. Among whites, 19 percent evaluated the president positively compared to 57 percent of blacks, whereas 55 percent of whites gave him negative ratings compared to just 12 percent of blacks.

Fiscal problems and budget battles have been at the center of President Obama's presidency, it seems, since 2009.  In August, Mr. Obama went through parts of Illinois, Tennessee, and Arizona, telling the American people that he has made strides in revitalizing the economy, but the progress that could be made is being blunted by Republicans in the House of Representatives.  Mr. Obama's message has been that, by opposing his proposals, Republicans are negatively impacting vulnerable children, immigrants, potential home buyers, the military, and businesses seeking to hire immigrants. Some have pointed to the president's attacks on the Republicans as being part of a strategy to influence the midterm elections that loom in November 2014.  President Obama characterizes the House Republicans' opposition to his proposals as behavior exhibiting their willingness to damage the nation's economy for political gain. The possibility of a government shutdown still exists. The economy continues to grow at a slow pace while unemployment is not dwindling fast enough. Military conflict in the Middle East remains a concern. The aforementioned issues are sure to take up a big part of Mr. Obama's agenda going forward.

Dr. Matthew Anderson
Shadow President

 

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