Baroud surveys the many hot spots in the world and concludes that the Empire's position in the world is very much on the defensive in spite of their recent "victory" in Ukraine. If he is right, we can expect more foreign wars and more repression at home. But then, who knows what opportunities might open up to improve the lot of the 99 Percent at home? We also might get ideas about liberation.
The state of US foreign policy in the Middle East, but also around the world, cannot be described with any buoyant language. In some instances, as in Syria, Libya, Egypt, the Ukraine, and most recently in Palestine and Israel, too many calamitous scenarios have exposed the fault lines of US foreign policy. The succession of crises is not allowing the US to cut its losses in the Middle East and stage a calculated ‘pivot’ to Asia following its disastrous Iraq war.
US foreign policy is almost entirely crippled.
For the Obama administration, it has been a continuous firefighting mission since George W. Bush left office.