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Victor C. Bolles

From Behind to Nothing



President Obama’s foreign policy was famously described as “leading from behind”. Perhaps President Trump’s foreign policy will be described as plain old "not leading".


With a flagrant disregard for world order, Saddam Hussein invaded tiny neighbor Kuwait on August 2, 1990. This blatant act prompted US President George H. W. Bush to put together a coalition of other nations (comprised of 45 nations that included the United States and most of the European powers) to oppose Saddam Hussein’s aggression. The military operations to free Kuwait from Iraq’s takeover began January 17th, 1991 and lasted about five weeks with devastating results for the Iraqi army.


This is called leadership. While it is true that the greatest burden fell on the United States, the other nations not only participated in some of the military activities, their presence reaffirmed the strength of the world order under US leadership and served notice to rogue nations the consequences of attempting to violate that order. And President Bush also managed the global response to the breakup of the Soviet Union that could have turned badly but instead proceeded relatively quietly and with little violence.


After 9-11 in 2001, President George W. Bush put together a so-called “coalition of the willing” to support the ill-advised invasion to overthrow the regime of Saddam Hussein that his father had refrained from attempting. Although this coalition had fewer activ