America’s Decline With the U.S. still reeling from domestic convulsions, its ignominious departure from Afghanistan has led allies to question if the American era is ending.
T
he chilling images are unforgettable. Massive military helicopters shuttling American diplomats from the roof of a hulking embassy. Desperate parents attempting to pass their babies over razor wire to departing American servicemen. Despairing Afghans swarming the tarmac and chasing and clinging to a crammed Air Force transport plane, with some then tragically falling from the skies, as the plane lifted off from the Kabul airport.
An inglorious ending
The scenes of chaotic and shameful defeat have captured the globe’s attention and are likely to be a defining moment of the Biden presidency and a showcase of waning U.S. power. This “Kabul moment” of American failure, according to a blog post published by The Times of Israel, announced “a tired, bankrupt giant racing for the exits,” and illustrates “a real present
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DISCERN
November/December 2021
