Pay close attention. Right now during this crisis in Ukraine, we might see what "21st century" diplomacy looks like. President Obama is forming agreements with Russia's neighbors, and Secretary of State John Kerry is issuing an ultimatum to Vladmir Putin.
Earlier this week, Kerry said this of Putin's occupation of Crimea in the Ukraine: "You just don't in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped up pretext."
Let's all imagine for moment and entertain the idea of embracing the idealism of the 21st century. What does that mean, really?
When I was a kid, everyone used to say "C'mon, it's the 90's". However trite it may be, it seemed like folks (or at least everyone as popular culture depicts it) had the sense that the dawn of the new century would create a historic break from the past, entitling us to new ideas and letting go with the old ones.
The election of the new conservatism of the early 2000's and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan should say otherwise. More than ten years later, I wonder if we have any 21st century credibility to begin with. Kerry accuses Putin of violating Ukraine's sovereignty, UN charters, international law, and other agreements, and Putin is... more or less doing the same:
"Let's remember what the U.S. did in Afghanistan, Libya, and Iraq. They acted without any sanctions of the U.N. Security Council, or they distorted the meaning of the UN Security Council resolution as they did in Libya. I have always supported international law." Here's the Russia News video.
More than ten years ago, our nation was put through this "21st century" test and we failed it miserably. The terrorist attacks during 9/11 had clouded our judgment with bloodlust. Our nation's elected leaders had largely supported a war under completely "trumped out pretexts". Among those was John Kerry, who voted in that Senate resolution the lead to the war that we had just recently crawled ourselves out of.
This isn't a stab at Kerry, though. I know that this is a decision that he soon regretted, and he ran his campaign in 2004 with this regret on his sleeve. It's hard to forget the barrage of name-calling from people calling him a "flip-flopper" at the war. Now it's hard to find anyone who hasn't flipped over. Having lost the Presidency due to this, and being a veteran of the war in Vietnam, surely he more than most understands about running the risk of hypocrisy when talking about a nation's sovereignty. For that I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. What he did with Russia over the use of chemical weapons in Syria is worth noting and deserves respect. However, given what has happened in the past ten years, I'm not convinced that American foreign policy has it's foot in the door of the 21st century. We could still make out the stink of Agent Orange.
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