A nation at grave risk: Does it matter?

If America is an experiment, is it now turning into a Frankensteinian nightmare? Both political parties have collectively failed to govern. Each regards the other as the enemy, as evil. And in 2024, two geriatrics could be running for president.

As bad, these attitudes and the vitriol have been extended beyond our borders and applied to China, Russia and lesser adversaries. If the trajectory of relations with both China and Russia is not reversed, both could soon be regarded as existential threats to America. President Biden’s assertion that China and Russia (and Iran and North Korea) represent a supreme battle between democracy and autocracy has added an ideological dimension to this confrontation last seen during the Cold War.

Taiwan is becoming an increasingly dangerous “hot spot,” and the prospect of a Chinese invasion is being taken very seriously. Chinese President Xi Jinping has been cast as a dictator bent on ensuring China replaces the U.S. as the strongest and most influential global power. And after the ill-timed visit to Taiwan by congressional delegations, China has stopped all military-to-military talks with the U.S. — a very worrisome step.

Russia has invaded Ukraine without cause. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been labelled a “war criminal” by President Biden — hardly the best basis for communicating. Russia has intimated that under certain circumstances it could resort to using nuclear weapons in self-defense.  

Russia is using energy to blackmail Europe to end sanctions and cease and desist from supporting Ukraine. The possibility of the war spreading beyond Ukraine cannot be dismissed. And with the onset of winter and presumably bad weather limiting military operations, new uncertainties and dangers will arise.

At home, the Constitution is under attack. The FBI’s search of former President Trump’s Florida home was not only unprecedented. It could lead to a national crisis unlike any the nation has ever endured. Suppose it was beyond any reasonable doubt that the former president broke laws that would put ordinary U.S. citizens behind bars for a considerable period. Would he be indicted, tried or convicted? That question could well determine the future of the U.S. legal and political systems.

Meanwhile, the economic outlook for most Americans is bleak. Inflation is approaching double digits. Gasoline prices, while slowly coming down, are still very high. The New York Times reports that, “Nearly two-thirds of Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck. An estimated 41 percent — 135 million people — are considered either poor or low-income. Eighteen percent of households earn less than $25,000 a year. Even before the pandemic hit, one in four Black families had a net worth of zero.”

America has always faced crises. The significant and defining difference is that never in the nation’s history has the U.S. confronted, simultaneously, such massive threats at home and abroad.

Americans intuitively understand where the country seems to be headed. By some polls, nearly 90 percent disagree with that direction. As a result, a large majority of Americans do not see a better future ahead. And virtually all institutions, especially those of the federal government, are either distrusted or thought to be incapable of providing competent governance.

Elections seem to make matters worse. Small, powerful extremes dominate both parties. The party of Lincoln, Eisenhower and Reagan is now the party, or more precisely the cult, of Trump. Progressivism has run amuck in distorting the old Democratic Party of Roosevelt, Kennedy and Johnson. And third parties do not work.

Are my descriptions of current conditions exaggerated? Or are conditions as grim or even worse than described? After all, muddling through has often worked — but it may not this time.

In all my columns less this one, I have proposed recommendations to correct or fix the identified problems or impasses. Unfortunately, this time I can only return to Ben Franklin, who wisely observed, “You have a republic as long, as you can keep it.”

Harlan Ullman is senior adviser at the Atlantic Council and the prime author of “shock and awe.” His latest  book is “The Fifth Horseman and the New MAD: How Massive Attacks of Disruption Became the Looming Existential Danger to a Divided Nation and the World at Large.” Follow him on Twitter @harlankullman.