Amid the highly contentious state of politics in the United States at the moment, it is quite easy to discern that elements of polarization, divisiveness, and general disagreement are pervasive. It appears that bitter debate and argumentation have replaced any semblance of a collective national identity posing the question: What are America’s values and objectives?
Ostensibly, after watching the entertaining yet disconcerting first presidential debate, there is little consensus about where America should be headed, exposing the off-putting reality that our country is grappling with an identity crisis. In order to clarify America’s values and objectives, we as a people need a unifying message to clarify our place in the world and bring us together. Hopefully, this can be achieved in the future; however, for the time being, it might do us all some good to heed the words of our current leader, President Obama.
Last week, addressing the U.N. General Assembly for his eighth and final time, Obama offered his thoughts on the trajectory of the country. Recapturing the appeals of “Hope” and “Change” that got him elected, the president touched on many things throughout his speech before delivering his clear message. “We must go forward and not backward,” he said as he touched on cooperative advances such as reopening relations with Cuba, brokering a nuclear-arms deal with Iran, and prioritizing emissions standards with world powers such as China.
Yet, as Obama prepares to exit the Oval Office, cooperation and inclusiveness remain a tenuous topic when it comes to both domestic and foreign affairs. Theistically, Obama pleaded, “We can choose to press forward with a better model of cooperation and integration, or we can retreat into a world sharply divided and ultimately in conflict along age-old lines of nation, and tribe, and race, and religion. I want to suggest to you today that we must go forward and not back.”
The aforementioned statement can be perceived as indirectly throwing shade at Donald Trump, but it can be conceived as emblematic of a larger global theme. Citing Russia’s imperialistic moves in Ukraine and controversial support of President Assad in Syria, Obama declared, “There appears to be growing contest between authoritarianism and liberalism right now.”
Noting his successor could steer the U.S. and world toward autocratic leadership predicated on ethnocentric isolationism, Obama said a globalized approach must override divisiveness. In Obama’s estimation, “If we are honest, we know that no external power is going to be able to force different religious communities or ethnic communities to coexist for long.” To Obama, repairing our tattered country and world requires kinship and understanding, not force. Some believe this diplomatic approach is too passive and stronger leadership is needed; however, one must ponder the potential success of a confrontational alternative.
With Obama’s thoughts in mind, it has become increasingly clear that decisions pertaining to America’s values and objectives have tremendous salience. Facing an omnipresent identity crisis, it appears our nation is faced with a referendum on the legitimacy of globalist thinking with the domestic integrity of our country hanging in the balance. We have a choice between continuing to abide by the moral philosophy of integration or opting to take a parsimonious approach aimed at eliminating dissent. On the supra-national level, will we continue to pursue cooperative endeavors or will we revert to inward-looking considerations? Perhaps Obama said it best in stating, “A nation ringed by walls would only imprison itself.”