(Follow up on my “Speech Draft” op-ed tracing some foreign policy implications)
USA is trapped. USA is doomed. Never before has a nation faced a predicament as severe as the one USA is facing. Comparable precedents are of course the Roman Empire or the Mayan Empire. This predicament has such a multitude of different aspects, that overcoming the predicament seems unthinkable. Among the different aspects of the predicament are:

• a population, or at least a large part of the population, accustomed to an exceptionally high standard of living
• a population accustomed to regard themselves as part of a nation of unrivalled power and supremacy
• a reckless political leadership who has ruined the nation in its attempts to secure both the high living standards and the position of supremacy, in accordance with the expectations of the population
• a position of world dominance within the financial and corporate sectors which is rapidly declining due to an increasingly corrupt leadership and all their desperate measures and acts of coercion
• a rapidly declining ability to draw incomes and resources to the homeland due to failing international alliances and hostile, circumventive alliances, all caused by the disappointment with the american leadership
• a growing internal civil unrest as the living standards are rapidly declining and the state of public services and inventory is falling into decay
• a growing internal civil unrest as the population awakens to the true state of their nation which amounts to a breakdown of the national self-conception
• a clear and present danger of a takeover of government by a Fascist political movement, since only Fascist leaders are able to develop the levels of self-delusion needed to sustain the images of empire and supremacy
• a nation in the grips of a Fascist leadership and inescapably headed for self-destruction in a sort of World War III-scenario
• a nation doomed and vengefully determined to take with it as many others as possible in the downfall

If there is any means to redeem this despairing fate, the means has to be bold and profound like nothing we have ever seen before. Not big and heavy-handed and excruciatingly painful, but perceptionally profound, conceptionally bold and, in taking the ensuing steps, hugely courageous. With the think piece ”Speech draft for Pr. Obama: Address to the Nation on Shadow Government” I attempted to contribute a daring vision of this kind of scope and depth. This piece sought to restore a true notion of leadership and called for a nationwide process of restoring honesty and transparency to government and leadership at any level and in every field of activity. Thus the ”Speech Draft” piece focused on the internal processes. What this piece will investigate is, how this national self-awakening will spell out a wholly new role for the USA in its international relations.

In a nation so thoroughly accustomed to hold power and to execute power, it is likely that the recommendations of the ”Speech Draft” piece will stir up strong resistance. Prior to embarking on the proposed proces of a national self-awaking, many americans will think of the whole scheme as a way of undermining the power and strength of the nation. Perhaps many will think of the scheme as some kind of conspiracy, conjured up by the enemies of the USA to leave the nation feeble and weak and open to exploitation.

Thus the resistance will probably be harsh and may actually trigger the very Fascist tendencies hinted at in the above. It seems like some people just cannot think of power in any other form than the one where you have the supreme force to get your way in spite of any resistance. But what these people seem to overlook is, that this attitude puts you at odds with just about anybody else, and thus this concept of power carries its own self-fulfilling prophecy. One day you will be forced to try to get your way amidst opposition from just about everybody else, and thus this concept of power is doomed to fail at some point. In the case of the USA this point is already looming.

Another aspect these hardliners seems to overlook is, that the USA is founded on exactly the opposite kind of power. The power of the many, the power of the people, ordinary people uniting and standing up against oppressive authority. ”E pluribus unum”. ”Out of many, one”. The whole purpose of the national restoration of honesty and transparency is to reunify the american people and with this reunification to restore the power of the US. Though lots of people around the globe have come to disdain the US and would revel in any degrading of the US, the strength of the US is likely to be of utmost importance for the political stability of the whole planet, going to through times of great transition.

Thus, the national movement of restoration of honesty and transparency is for the profound empowerment of the American people and the USA, though it is sure to be a difficult process to go through. The nation will at times be vulnerable, at times self-absorbed. And enemies of the US might seek to take advantage of these passages of unsure footing. But where the real dangers lurk is probably in the admissions of all the wrongdoings of the former corrupt leadership. The USA may have to go through a phase of having to confront waves of accusations and blame and maybe even claims of economic compensations for different kinds of wealth confiscation, that the former corrupt system made available.

It is an extremely precarious moment. If the US should embark on this restoration of honesty and transparency, there will be moments when the whole of humanity literally will hold its breath, not knowing what to say, what to do, what to expect. Will the admittance of all the wrongdoings erupt into anger and aggression spiralling out of control? Or will the sudden honesty evoke a kind of stillness of the mind, a kind of awe, in the realisation that a wholly new code of justice is thus laid down for all of humanity.

Never before in history of humanity has such a resolute attempt to alter the destiny of a nation been carried through. Not even in a sligth degree, though some comparison to the Roman Empire might again seem appropiate. Whereas the Western Roman Empire was consumed in its self-complacency, its illusions, its corruption, and thus showed no ability to change its ways and went on to meet its destined collapse, the East Roman Empire had the ability to reinvent itself through embracing Chistianity, simplifying the systems of government and downscaling the overall consumption rates of the population, thus enabling stable and satisfying living conditions for several centuries on.

Unfortunately, the current predicament of the US, along with the predicament of just about any country on Earth, bears much more resemblance with the state of the Western Roman Empire, than that of the Eastern, due to the levels of self-complacency among the ruling elites combined with the levels of depletion of the natural resources and the fertility of the land. The plan for the restoration of honesty and transparency might probably strike most living humans as ridiculously naive and idealistic, but then, most living humans haven’t showed the courage to confront the scope and depth of our global predicaments. And when people finally do turn their attention to the global predicaments, all too often the reaction is go instantaneously from unfounded optimism to helpless despair.

Among the ruling elites the same shift from one extreme to the other is just as common, but among these groups a third option presents itself, and that’s the option of taking the necessary steps to secure the good life within a protected community, while the rest of the world is falling apart. But is this option a real option? Don’t these groups make the mistake of taking the basis of their wealth for granted? It takes a large and relatively well-functioning society to create the kind of wealth, that the top one percent has become accustomed to enjoy. If the value creation in the overall society collapses due to the global depletion of the natural resources combined with all the destabilizing factors mentioned in the beginning, it is inconceivable, no matter how harsh the applied methods are, that the current life of luxury of the elite can be sustained. Thus the elite will have to radically redefine their role in order to maintain some position of privilige.

Thus the position of the US is not unique, on the contrary, it is shared by practically every nation on Earth, but the role of USA is still crucial in the sense that any obstruction of progress from the US will have an impact as well as any bold progressive steps taken by the US will have an impact on actions taken by people and nations around the globe. In order for humanity to overcome its grave predicaments, we have to develop a concept of the individual human being as a potential agent for care and nurturance, an agent for restoring health to the society and to the land. It is becoming increasingly obvious, that it is only through a kind of democratic renaissance, through the unleashing of the willpower and creativity and social ability of every single member of the society, that we will be able to navigate through our predicaments.

And the USA is in some regards uniquely positioned to lead in this transformation of our relations to each other and to our natural origins. Why? Because Americans are accustomed to rely on themselves to solve their problems, because of the entrepreneurial spirit of the Americans, also with respect to alternative ways of living, and because of the inherent spirit of being the provider, the one offering help and assistance, the one taking care of others. In spite of all the corrupt leadership, all the injustices and wrongdoings, the USA might still be the most benevolent empire to date. Mayby even the empire to end all empires. The self imposed end of Pax Americana to institute the Pax Humanica.

The American Empire is crumbling. And the USA is crumbling internally. In a fit of self-complacency and hubris the American Empire has over-extended itself and is hemorrhaging. Its once exemplary political institutions are now severely corrupted, and the miscalculations are so heavily incorporated, that every political step just seems to add to the decay of the nation. Internationally, the crumbling of the American Empire leaves a void, which China and Russia are all too happy to fill in. But neither Russia nor China presents a more evolved state of human society than the US. China and Russia are just as corrupt as the US, perhaps even more, so the global slide towards ’broken societies’ and Fascist rule just continues. It is this bleak outlook, that insistingly calls for the reinvention of the USA through the national movement of honesty and transparency.

With regard to foreign relations the reinvention of the USA will translate into an unprecedented commitment to the development of the UN into a kind of democracy for all of humanity. What we are talking about, is a shift of power from the ruling elites of the respective nations to the people of each of these nation. The USA is obviously leading the way by its reinvention through honesty and transparency, and the reinvention of American democracy will resonate strongly with the hopes and aspirations of ordinay people around the globe, which immediately will translate into demands on their own political leaders respectively to restore honesty and transparency. Where the corrupt political leadership of the other major powers on the international scene will laugh and rejoice when the USA goes through its existential crisis, they will soon find that the USA has forged itself a supreme alliance in the sympathy and loyalty of ordinary people around the globe.

It is obvious, that the US will have to scale down its military drastically. There is no way that the American economy at this point in history can sustain a military force of such huge proportions. But even in a substantially diminished form, the American military force will still be the one the other major powers will have to reckon with. Whereas the military force of the US was misused by the former political leaders for illegimate imperialist ends, the reinvented USA will once again put its military force behind the interests of the American people as these coincide with the interests of ordinary people around the globe. Even the Intelligence Community may cast itself in a wholly new role. Of course, all the illegal activities will have to go, and that will surely be felt as a huge loss to some of the insiders, but in all likelyhood, the majority of the people working within the Intelligence Community will feel releaved, when their daily activities once more is directed towards the safety and well-being of the American people and the rest of humanity.

Thus the reinvented USA will become the midwife of a newly inspired and empowered humanity. The US will back these global trends by using its power to secure relative peace and stability through these times of great change. This commitment to a kind of renaissance for all of humanity with the potential of unleashing new kinds of prosperity will be underlined by the willingness of the USA to put its military power under the command of a reformed UN, where it is the wishes of the people of the respective nations that is put forth in the General Assembly and subsequently incorporated into the resolutions.

The Obama Doctrine: A nation reinvented through restored honesty and tranparency working towards a unified humanity, and through this global commitment practically supporting its ongoing internal reinvention. In stead of just witnessing the crumbling and decay of the American Empire, this empire is, in its final stage, transformed into a leverage for the upliftment of humanity, and through this commitment the wounds are healed and the wrongdoings are corrected, and through this effort the citizens of the USA may carve for themselves a future of renewed prosperity, well-being and friendship.