Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen blamed the rash of conflicts that are raging around the world on the "hesitance" of the United States to react, beginning with Barack Obama, who began the trend of "retreat" in the Middle East.
Rasmussen, NATO chief from 2009-2014, made the comments in an interview with Politico, warning that Taiwan will be the next crisis if President Joe Biden doesn't get tough with China on setting expectations.
"Time and again we see that ... if the U.S. is not exercising global leadership, then the bad guys would take advantage of the situation," Rasmussen told Politico. "When America leads, then the bad guys retreat."
Rasmussen said the U.S. under Obama was too weak to respond to Russian President Vladimir Putin's forced annexation of Crimea in 2014, birthing Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"Recent global events in the Taiwan Strait, in the Middle East are all results of American hesitance to actually lead," Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen, 70, also placed blame at the feet of former President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly bashed and downplayed the role of NATO, while he was president and since. Most recently, according to European leaders, Trump vowed to quit NATO and said he wouldn't come to Europe's aid if it were ever attacked.
"For good and bad, we need a global policeman, and the U.S. is the only power on earth that can exercise that job," Rasmussen said.
Weighing in on American politics, the former prime minister of Denmark told Politico that Democrats should make a deal with Republicans on the border to make it a "non-issue" in the upcoming general election.
"If I were asked by Democrats what to do, my advice would be to accommodate Republican views on the border issue and create a package with four elements: support for Ukraine, support for Israel, support for Taiwan, and solve the border issue," Rasmussen said.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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