At the end of the last US administration, there was a budget surplus, there were steps being taken to foster peace in the Middle East, the US had close and warm ties to Russia, relying on their aid in many situations, and the momentum seemed to have no end in sight. Now, just seven years later, the US is becoming more and more isolated in a world that has seemingly turned against it.

The country’s debt, brought on by years of warfare, is massive. The Middle East is more unstable than it’s been in decades. Russia, tired of constantly being shut out of global affairs, has begun to roll back time and treat the US more as a Cold War enemy. Even the once staunch ally of the US, Britain, has begun to distance itself from the constant missteps of the current administration.

Where once we had a world on the move toward harmony, we now have a world fractured into powerful groups all struggling to maintain regional order.

Over the last eight years, we’ve seen the European Union emerge as a major power, garnering its strength from the power of many nations, each with a history rich in diplomacy and compromise. The war in Iraq has left the once proud bloc of Middle Eastern nations in tatters, a home to constant unrest and external militant influence. North Korea has threatened the Asian nations with nuclear disaster. Communism is rapidly becoming a popular movement in Latin America, with Chavez, in his charismatic and often predictably unpredictable behaviour, leading the charge for its revival. And more recently, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has been seen in the news more and more, touting its opposition to a US-dominated world.

Iran, which has been a thorn in the US’ side for quite some time, has lately become a powerful voice of anti-Western ideology, working hard to gather power in the weakened Middle Eastern community. With its open declaration of nuclear ambition, and its accused support of militant fighters in Iraq, Iran is feeding off publicity and instability in a way that can’t be ignored. Its brazen refusal to change its goals in the face of opposition has left it as a powerful voice even in the SCO, in which it is only an observer nation.

Russia has begun moving back to its Cold War treatment of the US, with bombers making more frequent and more brazen flights past US airspace in an effort to display its regained military strength and its disdain for its treatment at the hands of the US over the past several years. While the US has gained a reputation in the world community for increasing human rights abuses, it continues to lambaste other countries for human rights violations in a seemingly hypocritical manner. Russia has often been the target of US complaints because of its abuses in Chechnya, but lately, the Russian government has fought back, telling the US to pay more attention to its own human rights record and not to meddle in the affairs of Russia. The increased tension has caused a definite rift between two countries that were once well on their way toward healing decades of hostility.

Thirty years ago, there was open hostility with Iran, the US was in a cold war with Russia, and the nations of the world were split into many powerful blocs, all struggling for dominance in global positioning. It took almost twenty-five years to move the world toward a more harmonious age, and only seven years to watch it dissolve into the chaos and strife that once again dominates the globe. For a US administration run by someone who considers himself “The Uniter,” this is indeed a feat of incredible hypocrisy.