ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Not since the world almost descended into Armageddon during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 has there been such a dangerous alignment of global threats to America. It is not coincidence that this situation coincides with Barack Obama’s last year in the White House; on the contrary, this is the main driver of this national security nightmare. When you couple the collapsing price of oil with an abdication of American leadership around the globe, along with the last year of an appeasing presidency, you make an extremely dangerous geopolitical cocktail.

While the our national security apparatus gallops around the world spewing carbon dioxide and preaching that climate change is the most dangerous threat to the United States and the world, dictators take notice. When this same administration enters into treaties, without the will of the people exercised by congressional involvement, in order to ensure the world’s biggest sponsor of terrorism eventually acquires a nuclear capability, this situation becomes dire indeed.

Iran, in the meantime, will acquire tens of billions of dollars to threaten our allies in the Middle East (read: Israel) and Europe, with additional weapons obtained from Russia, and will grow its terrorist armies. We have written extensively about the new axis in the Middle East of Iran, Russia and Syria. The long-term goals of this new hegemon are unclear, suffice to say, their agenda will not be to further the national security of the United States.

As the price of crude oil collapses further, and I believe it will fall most likely into the teens before if finds a bottom due to the extreme imbalance between supply and demand, the pressure on hydrocarbon dependent, totalitarian regimes will become too much for them to bear in a peaceful manner. Eventually, these regimes will face civil unrest and threats to their grip on power. This will be when the real fun starts.

There is a reason Russia is building up in the Middle East and joining forces with Iran, and letting East Ukraine rot, in a bid to have sanctions eased by the West. The Middle East still provides 40 percent of the world’s oil. With Russian forces on the ground in a big way, President Vladimir Putin has the ability to increase the price of oil with a flick of a missile launcher’s switch. The Kremlin has a pattern during Putin’s reign of initiating military conflict in order to take the focus on domestic hardship and stoke nationalist passions. Most likely this pattern won’t be changed anytime soon. If the price of oil stays in the current range or lower for a long period of time, you can bet on this pattern repeating itself.

On the flip side of the Middle Eastern conflict, you have the Islamic State still existing after almost two years of American, European, and now Russian efforts against it. Yes, they have lost territory but the terrorist organization is still very much in tact, hence the recurring terrorist attacks in Europe and the United States. President Obama has not kept us safe. He has simply chosen not to call attacks on the homeland what they really are, Islamic terror. Just this morning, reports surfaced of large numbers of travelers bypassing customs at JFK. The southern border is an open sieve. The White House is trying its damndest to import as many Islamists into the country as possible before Obama leaves office in order to fundamentally alter the country’s demographics. We are not safe. There will be another terrorist attack, for the simple reason that security is not one of this White House’s priorities. Mr. Obama has other, more pressing, agendas, like his ascension to Secretary-General of the United Nations.

In Asia, North Korea is launching SLBMs and testing nuclear weapons. Eventually they will have the means to deliver a nuclear weapon on the homeland. The Korean Peninsula is at the most heightened state of alert since the end of the Korean War.

China’s economy is collapsing, no matter what the Wall Street China apologist class says. They are itching for a fight in the South China Sea and building up the military to fight one. This is a time bomb waiting to happen. The communist totalitarian, managed capitalism is an absolute failure. The can only can be kicked down the road so long before the five-year plan chickens come home to roost. At the same time, America has reduced its naval, ground, and air forces to the lowest levels since WWII. Our adversaries know this. They know we can no longer blunt their aggressive agendas. Therefore, they are on the move.

All of these bad actors know the next American president will likely be Donald Trump or Ted Cruz, neither one of which they believe will give them no where near as much latitude as they have now. They realize Barack Obama doesn’t care about America. He is a Marxist. Marxists don’t love freedom. The hate it. Therefore, the next twelve months will be the most dangerous America has faced in more than 50 years as regimes move to get as much militarily and geopolitically as they can before Mr. Obama is forced to leave.

It’s at times like these where America should be the shining city on the hill, a beacon of peace through strength, a bellwether of freedom the world can look up to, making it clear that aggression doesn’t pay, that America has our allies’ back. Too bad our current president doesn’t believe that.

Sign up for Daily Opinion Newsletter Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.