Unfortunately this story is still making the rounds….that is in my head. However come to think of it objectively – unavoidable emotions aside – this should not only be a story of utter frustrations from the current state of affairs because that’s largely energy wasted. We should try to understand our failures and make recommendations (at least hypothetically since we do not have the real power to make the necessary changes ourselves in the hope of someone with authority could somehow pick this up and follow it through with a complete vision). I am also more than happy to post any relevant suggestions from visitors to my site if they spare a moment or 2 to consider this question of lessons to learn.
In previous posts I’ve written on this Ukraine issue I have recommended short term actions to deal with the so I’ll not rehash. But a more worthwhile/effective approach is to discuss the more serious failures in our system that has led us to where we are today – and will be tomorrow. One major failure that I’ve mentioned plenty in my older posts is that we tend to elect leaders who lack the fundamental/basic understanding/comprehension when it comes to matters of strategy & foreign policy; you try typing the name “Boris Johnson” followed by merely the term “Policy” on your computer whatever the OS and you’ll most likely get a flashing error message from your computer with something along the lines of: “CANNOT COMPUTE; This computer is about to explode in 2 seconds so please consult your manual!!”
Worse yet people assigned to head departments dealing with foreign policy have absolutely no credentials to deal with complex issues we face today and will face every other day into the future.
Foreign policy is no joke my friends and unless we have the talents with the right credentials/experiences – not merely as functionaries but as strategists with a vision – people with leadership skills who are able to build a team and work closely with military experts to come up with long term pragmatic strategies to deal with issues of profound national security implications and react swiftly/competently in case of urgent crisis our national security will continue to be compromised. More importantly we need people willing to lead in standing up for matters of principle; like our values and how they influence us in shaping a better/more sustainable world order founded on basic/fundamental human rights. There can also be a more effective model when collaborating with allies in dealing with these issues as I’ve mentioned in previous blogs. In other words we can no longer afford to continue playing catchup with world events and make reactionary policies driven either by ego or lack of understanding of political realities or sheer stupidity because a wrong action (or inaction) in the realms of foreign policy can have catastrophic ramifications.
Just a thought!