10 things that affected American politics in 2011

10 things that affected American politics in 2011 Du Jianfeng In 2011, faced with the complex and ever-changing international situation and the slow and difficult domestic economic recovery, the U.S. government...

Du Jianfeng

In 2011, faced with the complex and ever-changing international situation and the slow and difficult domestic economic recovery, the U.S. government failed to resolve the crisis in a timely and effective manner. Instead, it spent most of its time trapped in partisan political struggles. The following are 10 political events (in chronological order) that I think are relatively representative. They reflect, to a certain extent, the chaos in American politics over the past year.

1. Passive response to the "Arab Spring"

On March 19, the US warship launched 112 cruise missiles towards Libya, and the US-led NATO military operation against the Gaddafi regime officially began.

Faced with the "Arab Spring" movement that emerged at the beginning of the year, the US government has a very contradictory mentality. On the one hand, many of the dictators who were overthrown during the movement were allies of the United States on the issue of Palestine, Israel and anti-terrorism. However, the emerging political forces in these countries that came to power through democratic elections are not necessarily very friendly to the United States and Israel. On the other hand, the United States, as the standard bearer for defending Western democratic values ​​and the "martial arts leader" of the free world, must actively respond to and support the democratic demands of the people of the Middle East.

This dilemma led to the Obama administration's slow response in response to the "Arab Spring" and was accused of "leading from behind." Although the Libyan issue was resolved through NATO intervention, the situation in the Middle East is still undergoing drastic changes. Both Syria and Iran are serious headaches for the United States. One thing that is certain is that in the post-"change" Middle East, the United States has to face the complex situation of declining influence.

2. Killing bin Laden and transforming the counter-terrorism strategy

On May 1, US President Obama announced to the world that US special forces killed bin Laden hiding in Pakistan during a special operation.

Although Bin Laden no longer directs the actual operations of Al Qaeda, the killing of Bin Laden still has great symbolic significance for the United States' war on terrorism. Next, in September, the United States will commemorate the tenth anniversary of September 11th. In October, Obama will announce that it will withdraw its troops from Iraq by the end of the year. On December 15, the US military will officially end its combat mission in Iraq.

Although domestic opinions on Obama's decision to withdraw troops are divided, even if the Republican president comes to power in a year, he will not continue to send more troops to the Middle East. The elimination of Bin Laden and the withdrawal from Iraq marked a new stage in the United States' war on terrorism. In 2011, the U.S. national security strategy ushered in a huge turning point from combating al-Qaida overseas to focusing on preventing isolated and sudden terrorist incidents at home.

3. The chaotic Republican presidential primary

On June 2, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney officially announced his participation in the 2012 presidential election.

In addition to the chaotic battle in the White House of Congress, the Republican presidential primary election is another major drama in the American political arena in 2011. Rumney has always been the candidate generally favored by public opinion, and he is also the opponent Obama is least willing to face. However, because his political stance is not conservative enough, many Republican voters have never made up their mind to fully support him. So the 2011 Republican presidential primaries became a game of choosing "Trump's replacement."

An Obama campaign adviser once said that campaigning is like watching a monkey climb a pole. The higher a candidate climbs, the more of his butt is exposed. In the past six months, candidates who had the strength to challenge Trump, from Bachman to Perry to Kaine, fell short due to various problems after a brief lead. Now, former Speaker of the House of Representatives Gingrich has become the latest leader, but his lead is shrinking.

If predictions are made currently, Rumney is still the most likely candidate to win the Republican nomination. After the election officially begins next year, the election will be the main theme of American political life, and its results will also affect the development of American society and the entire world in the next few years.

4. Standard & Poor's downgraded the U.S. rating and the government was judged to have failed

On August 5, Standard & Poor's lowered the long-term sovereign credit rating of the United States from AAA to AA+, with a negative rating outlook.

>The American political arena in 2011 was full of power struggles, but little communication and cooperation. S&P's downgrade is ostensibly an expression of concern about the U.S. economic prospects, but fundamentally it is an expression of disappointment in the U.S. government's nearly paralyzed ability to deal with problems.

Throughout 2011, the two parties in Congress did not pass any bill that effectively solved social and economic problems. At a time when the country is facing huge challenges, the two major political parties have not worked together, but have been fighting for their own partisan interests. The White House has also failed to show its due leadership in the crisis. The S&P downgrade actually gave the U.S. government a failing grade in its overall performance in handling the crisis.

However, after the downgrade incident, the two parties in Congress and the White House did not learn their lesson and continued to end 2011 in fighting and wrangling.

5. The "Jobs Act" ran aground and Obama was helpless

On October 11, the "Jobs Act" proposed by Obama ran aground because it failed to gain sufficient support in the Senate.

2011 was Obama’s third year in office, and it was also the year in which he made the least achievements in domestic affairs. Faced with the dire economic situation, the White House has done almost nothing. First, he underestimated the prospects for recovery at the beginning of the year, and then came away empty-handed from negotiations with the Republican Party. Not only has Obama attracted criticism from both Republicans and Democrats, but his public approval ratings have also dropped to historic lows. After suffering setbacks in the debt ceiling negotiations, Obama's "Jobs Act" was his only and last proactive effort on the economy. However, this $400 billion bill failed to pass the Senate, where Obama's Democratic Party holds a majority.

For much of 2011, the White House was forced to sit on the sidelines in domestic affairs. The December issue of GQ ("Gentlemen's Quarterly") magazine listed Obama as one of the "least influential people in the world." Although this is a bit exaggerated, it also reflects the embarrassment that Obama has been unable to do anything in domestic affairs over the past year and can only sit on the sidelines.

6.?#21307;Reform bill?#34987;Alleging unconstitutionality is uncertain

On November 14, the U.S. Supreme Court officially accepted the case of 26 state governments suing the "Healthcare Reform Act" for being unconstitutional.

The "Health Care Reform Act" is Obama's biggest political achievement during his term of office. However, after this bill was passed, it sparked a huge backlash from American conservatives. Not only did it directly promote the development and growth of the party's movement, but it also indirectly led to the Republican Party's comeback in last year's congressional midterm elections. It can be said that the passage of the "Health Care Reform Act" completely changed the power structure of American politics.

At present, 26 state governments have collectively sued the federal government on the grounds that the bill is unconstitutional. In local lawsuits, both parties have their own winners and losers. In the end, the fate of this bill can only be decided by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court's decision to accept the case is not surprising, but it is unknown what decision the nine justices will make after the hearing next year.

Next year is an election year. With the election campaign in a stalemate, the Supreme Court's decision may affect the final choice of president.

7. The lost "Occupy Wall Street" movement

In the early morning of November 15, New York Mayor Bloomberg ordered the police to clear Zuccotti Park in Manhattan, the headquarters of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement.

"Occupy Wall Street" is another global mass political movement this year after the Arab Spring. In a short period of time, it spread from New York, its birthplace, to all parts of the United States, and then swept the world. There are many reasons that promote the development of this movement. The most direct ones are poor economic prospects and young people's dissatisfaction with reality. After the start of the movement, it quickly won widespread public support and media attention.

However, due to the lack of a unified organization and political platform, apart from simply venting their dissatisfaction with reality, participants were unable to further express clear political demands. In addition, violent and illegal incidents continued to occur during the activities, causing the "Occupy" movement to gradually lose mass support. After New York City implemented the clearance, other major American cities followed suit. Participants in the current movement are looking for new directions for action. From the current point of view, this massive demonstration movement has had a very limited substantive impact on American society, and it is facing a situation of declining influence.

8. "Super Committee" fails to reduce deficit and Congress is almost paralyzed

On November 21, the "Super Committee" of the U.S. Congress issued a joint statement announcing that they failed to reach an agreement on deficit reduction within the scheduled time.

During the summer negotiations over raising the debt ceiling, Republicans and Democrats decided to form a "super committee" with representatives from each party, whose members would be responsible for formulating a fiscal plan to reduce the $1.2 trillion deficit over the next decade before Thanksgiving. After the negotiations began, the Democrats were unwilling to cut benefits and the Republicans refused to raise tax rates. The two sides missed the deadline for reaching an agreement while fighting each other.

Over the past year, the two parties in Congress have been at loggerheads over budget and deficit issues. The "Super Committee" episode is just one episode in a long-running series. By January 24 next year, the U.S. government will have not passed a normal annual budget for 1,000 days. The unrelenting struggle between the two parties has nearly paralyzed Congress, and the American people's support for lawmakers on Capitol Hill has dropped to single digits.

9. Hillary meets Aung San Suu Kyi The United States “returns to Asia”

On December 1, US Secretary of State Hillary visited Myanmar and met with the famous dissident Aung San Suu Kyi.

At a time when the American people are generally losing confidence in Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is one of the few politicians with high public approval ratings. When she took office in 2009, she realized that the future of U.S. diplomacy lay in the Asia-Pacific region. As the U.S. military withdraws significantly from the Middle East battlefield this year, the focus of U.S. diplomacy has also begun to shift to the Pacific Rim. After Obama visited Australia to announce the troop increase, Hillary's visit to Myanmar further highlighted the United States' ambition to "pivot to Asia."

Different from its passive response to the Middle East issue, the United States seized the opportunity of changes in Myanmar's domestic political situation and immediately sent important officials to conduct high-level contacts. This is a rare initiative taken by the Obama administration in diplomacy. As the saying goes, "Xiangzhuang dances with sword, and his intention is Peigong." Whether it is Obama's trip to Oceania or Hillary's "ice-breaking trip" to Myanmar, in a large sense they are strategically challenging and inhibiting China's influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

In the next many years, the interactive game between the United States and China in the Asia-Pacific region may be the most important contest on the world diplomatic stage.

10. Economic recovery is slow and Obama’s re-election prospects are unclear

On December 2, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that the unemployment rate dropped to 8.6% in November.

At the beginning of the year, the U.S. government was optimistic that the U.S. economy would usher in a "summer of recovery." However, the actual economic growth rate was much slower than expected, and the employment data even showed zero growth in August. Public opinion and the economic community once worried that the economy would fall into a double recession. But entering the fourth quarter, many economic indicators show that the situation does not seem to be that bad.

Although the unemployment rate in November fell to the lowest point in nearly two and a half years, the overall situation of the US economy is still not optimistic. Currently, more than 13 million people in the United States are unemployed. At the same time, the European debt crisis and China's unclear economic prospects have added great uncertainty to the U.S. economic situation next year. The outcome of next year's US election, whether it is the majority of seats in both houses of Congress or whether Obama can be re-elected, will largely depend on the degree of economic recovery.

(Source: Wall Street Journal)