What comes next in 2021?
Former United Nations ambassador Samantha Power stated that restoring American leader ship must include the basic task of showing that the United States is a capable problem solver once more. Since 1776 United States has solved more problems than any other nation in the world. We have achieved heights never before reached in human history. Despite this crazy year and the election, we have all faced challenges. No matter what happens, the US will strive and fight to the death, to be a beacon of freedom for the entire world. We still have many injustices and we will never be perfect but we recognize this. We are the only country that has accepted this while working every day to become as close to perfect as possible.
Among tens of thousands of accomplishments in the past 100 years including saving the world from Hitler, the US is the leader in terms of economics and politics. The fact that people in every foreign country and immigrants to the US itself will criticize the US, is a testament to American humility and love of mankind despite different political beliefs. Geniuses like Steve Jobs have changed the world in ways that will echo into eternity. Triumphs of American freedom include the Berlin airlift, the Moon landing and the hope seen by millions of immigrants when looking at the Statue of Liberty. However, today America is missing that sense of victory and confidence that it had since 1776. While our government does everything possible to help industry, the greatest accomplishments are in companies like SpaceX. Elon Musk says that in the next five years we will be ready for a mission to Mars. In these hyper partisan times, the US need something like a space mission to Mars to bring back pride and unity into our country.
The United States is no longer the sole superpower that it was after the Cold War. We live in a multi polar world where nations like Russia still present formidable threats. However, now the greatest threat to the US international order is China. While China is the greatest competitor today to the United States, it is nowhere near achieving global dominance over the US. Whether referring to China covering up the origins of the coronavirus, bullying other nations, and suppressing human rights, the free world will not replace the US with China. China today is repressing Muslims in Xinjiang in ways that we have not seen since the mid 20th century. Earlier this week, Op-ed writer Walter Russell of the Wall Street Journal discussed how China is also brutally persecuting Christians. Under the leadership of the Xi Jinping, the Chinese government is installing cameras in churches and even ripping parts out of the state-approved Bible. Then they are adding stories where Jesus promotes Communism. Ironically, the Christian church has always grown exponentially under persecution. Today there are over 100 million Christians in China and experts say by 2030, China will be the largest Christian-majority country in the world. China passing the US in terms of number of Christians is not an accomplishment that Communist Party leaders want to achieve.
President-Elect Biden faces a world more complex and unusual than any president in American history. Facing progressives in his own party that want to spend more domestically could lead to less money for US foreign affairs. However, with the House of Representatives and the Senate being almost deadlocked it seems that traditional American foreign policy views will prevail.
