You won't like what fills the vacuum

Important piece by John Bolton today on the nature of the players stepping up to shape world-stage dynamics in the absence of American leadership:

For nearly a decade, a key precept underlying Reagan’s “peace through strength” philosophy has been eroded. Namely, we cannot have a strong U.S. economy and way of life unless we have a strong U.S. presence internationally. Equally, we cannot have a strong U.S. presence internationally without a strong domestic economy.

History is clear. After World War II, America created a minimalist international order that gave rise to an enormous outburst of global trade and investment. That economic explosion did not take place in a political vacuum but within a structure resting on U.S. power and our system of alliances.
Our international order was created through a series of ad hoc decisions, not according to a preconceived architecture, but, rather like the British Empire, in “a fit of absence of mind.” This order is very fragile, held together by baling wire and chewing gum. There is no safety net, no “Plan B”; if it starts to collapse, it could go very quickly.

Our American order is threatened by the accelerating collapse of U.S. political, diplomatic and military presence and assertiveness. We are abandoning positions of politico-military strength and structures of deterrence that took decades of arduous efforts to construct. Make no mistake, no one else will fill the growing vacuum with our benign influence — not the United Nations, not the European Union and not any other country or alliance. 

Many around the world benefit from our minimalist international order but do not bear their fair share of the burdens. Americans justifiably resent this free-riding. But we must remember that our policy is not an act of altruism. We’re not doing this for others. We’re doing it for ourselves. If the minimalist order collapses, in whole or part, the effects on America’s way of life will be profound.
Unfortunately, we are turning inward not because we have to but because Barack Obama is choosing to. We have a president who sees U.S. strength as provocative, part of the problem internationally.
Obama believes that a less assertive, less militarily-prepared America will ensure a more peaceful, stable world. He has it exactly backwards. He has consciously turned away from the Roman maxim, reaffirmed in George Washington’s first State of the Union message:  Si vis pacem, para bellum. If you want peace, prepare for war.

Disorder now is spreading globally and likely will accelerate before next inauguration day. Consider just a few examples: 

China is building islands in the South China Sea complete with air and naval bases. Since all the oil that comes to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan from the Middle East passes through those waters, if Beijing succeeds in creating a Chinese lake, it will have its hands around the throats of the economies of key U.S. allies and trading partners. Taiwan faces its own threat from Beijing in the East China Sea. Yet for seven years, we have seen only meager, halting efforts to stop China’s relentless advance, thus encouraging it to move even more assertively.
North Korea’s and Iran’s nuclear-weapons and ballistic-missile programs continue apace. American and South Korea military commanders believe Pyongyang is progressing rapidly to being able to hit targets on our West Coast. Moreover, the North is fully prepared to sell nuclear devices to terrorist groups for hard currency. Iran’s ayatollahs have now received international legitimacy, economic relief and a clear path to nuclear weapons.
And do not discount the likely cooperation between Tehran and Pyongyang. The “axis of evil” is more than just a metaphor.
Russia is changing European borders through military force, something we said in 1945 we would never again permit. Moscow has seized parts of Ukraine and Georgia and threatens NATO members in the Baltic, perhaps even this year before Obama leaves office.

In the Middle East, Moscow now has a more robust military presence and diplomatic influence than at any time in 40 years, when Anwar Sadat  expelled Soviet military advisers and brought Egypt into the Western orbit.

We have witnessed ISIS, al-Qaida, Taliban and terrorist groups reach threat levels not seen since 9/11. Obama considers Israel, like America itself, to be part of the problem, not the solution.

This is on purpose. This is planned decline. This is the manifestation of the core of Barack Obama's  worldview: moral relativism.

How many of those remaining contenders for the Most Equal Comrade's position understand what is being done and what is necessary to rectify it? Who are they?

There is only one.