And the World Turns
Gilbert N. Kahn is a professor of Political Science at Kean University.
America is captivated today with what 3-5% of Iowa adults will do this evening in a series of caucus around the State. The polls are over and now the people can confound the pundits; meanwhile the world is spinning.
What is scary is that baring a major crisis in the world; a negative turn in the economy, or a confronation with Iran in the Straits of Hurmuz, until there is a clear Republican nominee, most Americans will ignore the world around us. Then, after a brief time to look around and watch the flowers bloom, Americans will give passing attention to the national conventions, the polls, the presidential debates, and the inundation of television advertisement leading up to Election Day
They are largely ignoring the demise of the democracy initiative, the assertion of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the growing repression by the military in Egypt. They will pay little attention to the continuing Syrian attacks and slaughter of its citizens flaunted in front of the so-called Arab League monitors. They will swallow hard at the realization that now that U.S. soldiers are no longer a buffer in the growing sectarian fighting in Iraq, there is a dramatic escalation of the ethnic violence. They will mourn the tragic losses the nation suffered there, but not consider the regional consequences of the renewed fighting to Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and throughout the Gulf, unless or until there are economic repercussions, especially at the oil pump.
For Americans, it’s hard to believe that the entire world is not equally mesmerized by the shenanigans of a few thousand people in Iowa.
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