ANALYSIS/OPINION:
As we look back at the major news stories of the year, several themes emerged.
One was a shift in global politics as represented by the struggle to establish democracy in the Ukraine, and the rise of the extremist Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. The overarching domestic themes were the midterm elections and the child immigration crisis on the American border.
It was also a year of discovery, marked by the rousing success of the ambitious European Rosetta space project, which for first time in history landed a probe on one of our solar system’s comet. Among the other flashpoints was a renewed focus on race, crime and police conduct as represented by the deaths of unarmed black men at police hands in Missouri, Cleveland and New York City.
The current situation in the Ukraine has largely been framed in the liberal media as a test of President Obama’s foreign policy strength in the face of the expansion of Russian power under President Vladimir Putin. What emerged over the past year is a behind-the-scenes effort by the Obama administration to cement a legacy as a defender of the NATO alliance by hastening the deeply-divided Ukraine’s entrance to the EU.
However, actual politics on the ground made the aggressive pace of change less palatable to the EU, which not only has to live with the Russian military presence in its own backyard, but also has come to rely heavily upon Russian energy resources as it attempts to rebuild after a crippling economic recession. The events in the Ukraine spun quickly out of control as a Western-backed coup overthrew a democratically elected Ukrainian government, provoking Russian intervention in Crimea, and ultimately a separatist war.
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Some saw the Obama administration’s naive meddling in Ukraine less as a defense of Europe and more an effort to bolster Mr. Obama’s foreign policy credentials after the debacles last year involving Syria, and in particular Mr. Putin’s intervention after reports of Syrian President Bashar Assad using chemical weapons against civilians.
But of course it was Mr. Obama’s own policy missteps in the first place that led to the face-saving maneuver by Mr. Putin that drew the Obama administration’s enduring resentment. Mr. Obama drew a red line in the sand against Mr. Assad’s use of chemical weapons but failed to follow through with any practical steps to enforce his threat. The resulting power vacuum left a fertile breeding ground for the emergence of the Islamic State in the war-torn and lawless regions of Iraq and Syria, which now threatens both nations.
In May, the press picked up the story of thousands of unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S. border from Central America seeking asylum in the U.S. The notable difference between these illegal immigrants and previous waves was not just that they were mostly children, but that unlike other immigrants these children crossed the border and promptly handed themselves over to the U.S. authorities. Apparently the memo had gone out to Central America that U.S. immigration rules forbid the swift deportation of children, and that they could possibly be placed with sponsors pending a lengthy administrative review of their status, which is what ultimately occurred.
Although the press picked up images of citizens protesting lax immigration policies, in an effort to brand them as racist or xenophobic brutes, the media coverage failed to address the root causes of this mass exodus. Almost 80 percent of the kids were from three countries — El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — fleeing not only the abject poverty in those countries, but also the violent drug gangs that are being fed by the voracious American demand for cocaine, heroin and other illicit narcotics. Ironically many of these gangs, or “maras” as they are known locally, are actually offshoots of violent Hispanic gangs in the U.S. whose members were either deported or returned voluntarily. The connection between immigration and the global drug trade has yet to fully permeate the national media.
The midterm elections came and went with the predictability of the morning sun. Given the president’s low approval ratings, it came as no surprise that Republicans finally took over the Senate.
While some estimated that infighting within the Republican Party might impede the party’s rise, the Republican establishment was effectively able to corral the energy of the tea party by playing off the weakness of the president and portraying the outcome of the elections as a referendum over the popular distrust of Washington. But it also seems somewhat clear from early indications that public weariness over gridlock and a do-nothing government was at least as much a factor.
SEE ALSO: Illegal immigration up, deportations down in 2014: Homeland Security
In a large step for mankind, the European Rosetta space project successfully landed an unmanned probe on a comet deep in the solar system, after launching 10 years ago and traveling over six billion miles. The probe took breathtaking photographs of the icy and craggy surface of the comet located 317 million miles away from Earth. Scientists have also tested water samples from the comet, which differ from the chemical composition of water in our oceans and thus challenge reigning theories about the origins of water on Earth’s surface.
Make no mistake, the Rosetta project is a monumental feat of human endeavor, not the least because of the science and engineering complexity, but the degree of economic and political coordination that went into making it a success.
Finally, the events after the deaths of unarmed black males at the hands of white police officers harken back to old wounds that many thought were on the way to healing in this country. In both cases, grand juries declined to indict the officers involved, sparking civil unrest and protests that have spread across the country and the world.
These events have filled the news cycle in recent weeks, serving as a flashpoint in an ongoing debate in this country about policing, crime and race that will not be resolved in the foreseeable future.
• Armstrong Williams is sole owner/manager of Howard Stirk Holdings and executive editor of American CurrentSee Online Magazine.
• Armstrong Williams can be reached at 125939@example.com.
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