Is the West Truly in Decline? Understanding the Facts

In the geopolitical world, perception is everything when dealing with friends and enemies. Many, especially Americans, seem imbued with unbridled confidence now that Donald Trump is back in the White House. We keep hearing that there's a new sheriff in town, and things are changing.

Admittedly, things are changing, from direct action that the President can take with executive orders to some of his cabinet and agency head choices on the domestic front. However, on the international stage, is America and the West being seen as strong?

Perhaps many Americans are unaware that Australia is being intimidated by China right now.

China issued 'disconcerting' warning of live-fire exercises to planes flying above, Australia says

Why does China feel it needs to conduct military exercises off our coast? This is intimidation of the first order, and the Australian government can only give a mealy-mouthed tepid response. Has President Trump stated anything? Unfortunately, Australia is highly dependent on China. Since Australia, like many Western countries, gutted its manufacturing industry, it is very much dependent on exports to China, more than $120 billion annually.

Is this exercise a test to see how the West reacts? Does China see this as a weakness and is emboldened to move on Taiwan in the near future? After all, what would America do? China is a formidable world power with nuclear weapons, advanced fighters, the largest navy in the world, and high-tech rocketry.

Then there is the Israeli-Gaza conflict. After the unprovoked attack on Israeli settlements by Hamas and Gaza civilians, including some people from UNRWA, what was the goal as stated by Israel? It was the release of the living hostages and the elimination of the terror group Hamas. So, 16 months later, what has been the outcome? All the hostages have not been released, but hundreds of Hamas prisoners in Israeli prisons have been released into the community. Some of them are murderers with multiple lifetime sentences. Imagine someone takes your family members, including children, and proceeds to rape and mutilate them in the most evil way imaginable. How would you feel if the perpetrators were released from prison?

The second goal, as stated by Israel, has been the elimination of Hamas. Is Hamas eliminated? While Hamas has been dealt a blow, they are still in control of Gaza and is reconstituting itself. At the same time, there is a ceasefire, and Israel has pulled back from some of its previous positions. This is not a way to win a war. Hamas won this war not only in the kinetic phase but also in the arena of public relations.

To make matters worse, President Trump, while exhorting the translocation of Gazan civilians and the creation of the Gazan Riviera, seems to have forgotten his threat to Gaza; unless the hostages were released by Inauguration Day, there would be hell to pay. He didn't follow through on that threat and issued a second one. Similarly, it was an idle threat. So here is the U.S. and Israel engaged in negotiations with a terror group. Hamas could care less about Trump's statements because they know he won't follow through.

Power and its use are the ultimate determiner of success in the Middle East. Remember, Obama threatened a red line against the use of chemical weapons by Assad of Syria in 2012. Assad crossed that line, and Obama did nothing. So today, there is a perception that the West is weak. Qatar, a tin pot little terror-enhancing state, has gained elevated status as a negotiating partner because the state supports Hamas, so they are the go-between in negotiations. Qatar is also the most significant foreign donor to both American and Australian universities, operating in a subversive manner to instil a pro-Hamas, pro-Palestinian agenda. I wonder why the West is having dissent in its ranks.

The other conflict of significant concern is the war in Ukraine. While I'm not a fan of Zelensky, Trump has made some idiotic statements like the following:

Trump says Ukraine started the war that's killing its citizens. What are the facts?

No, Russia invaded Ukraine's territory. The war might have been prevented if Russia's concerns had been resolved some years ago. But clearly, Russia pushed into eastern Ukraine, and this wasn't the first intervention by Russia into Ukraine. In 2014, Russia invaded and annexed Crimea, which was a part of Ukraine, gifted by Nikita Kruschev in the 1950s.

When the Soviet Union dissolved, Ukraine had control of many nuclear weapons. Still, under an agreement that was ironed out, Ukraine agreed to give up its weapons in return for retaining its territorial integrity. Of course, Putin put an end to that idea in 2014.

In 2008, Russia invaded and occupied Georgia, which had previously been part of the Soviet Union. On the pretence of supporting two breakaway provinces, the Russian military moved in, ensuring they had a buffer against the West.

So, what will the outcome of the current situation be? Well Trump is dealing direct with Putin. However, the conflict is between Ukraine and Russia, so how can you not have one of the parties at the table?

Undoubtedly, Putin will retain the land he has occupied in the Donbass region and will also get a guarantee that Ukraine will not join NATO. This doesn't bolster the idea that the West is in a position of strength. What Putin wants, Putin gets. This is a victory for Putin. What's next for Putin, Armenia?

Has Trump greenlit aggression on Armenia?

Then we have the Quartet of Evil: Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. We can thank the Biden administration for this new axis of evil. The disastrous pullout from Afghanistan made America look weak. These countries know that America is pulling back from the world stage. Iran has its proxies doing the dirty work for it in the Middle East. Russia has seen its territory expand. China is becoming more powerful daily and intimidating others off Australia's coast and in the South China Sea. North Korea, a nuclear power, lurks in the background.

Europe is also on the back foot. The race to net zero—further strengthening China, which makes most of the solar panels and wind turbines–and the importation of large numbers of illegal immigrants, many of them from Islamic countries, don't bode well for its future. So it's basically up to America to fight against a formidable opponent. What will it do if China moves against Taiwan? I predict not much; the Trump doctrine is to let others settle their differences.

With Taiwan producing most of the world's microchips, America may have to engage China. That would be a disaster, and it goes to the flawed model of disengaging from the world. When you outsource manufacturing to others, you make yourself more vulnerable.

Despite the positive actions that Trump has unleashed domestically and internationally, it is a different story. Appeasing the tyrants of the world has never worked. Words alone don't cut it; determination to take action must follow the words. If the tyrants sense weakness, they'll keep pushing. The Hamas' of this world don't care about dialogue or engagement other than allowing themselves to survive and strengthen themselves to commit more atrocities. What these parties all have in common is world domination. That may seem trite, but look at their words and actions.