Palestine UN Vote and American Decline (Cole at Truthdig)

My column, “Palestine Vote Showcases the Decline of American Power,”, is out at Truthdig.

Excerpt:

“The United States, castigated by its critics as recently as a decade ago as a “hyper-power,” is now so weak and isolated on the world stage that it may cast an embarrassing and self-defeating veto of Palestinian membership in the United Nations. Beset by debt, mired in economic doldrums provoked by the cupidity and corruption of its business classes, and on the verge of withdrawing from Iraq and ultimately Afghanistan in defeat, the U.S. needs all the friends it can get. If he were the visionary we thought we elected in 2008, President Obama would surprise everyone by rethinking the issue and coming out in favor of a U.N. membership for Palestine. In so doing, he would help the U.S. recover some of its tarnished prestige and avoid a further descent into global isolation and opprobrium.”

I go on to discuss the defection from the anti-Palestinian Washington position of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, France and Spain, among others, and the pro-Palestinian stance of the BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Instead of leading an international consensus, the US is increasingly isolated on this issue with regard to its own allies, much less the international community.

Read the whole thing.