Foreign Policy Paralysis

Reflections on foreign policy in the 21st century

War by Franz von Stuck. Oil on canvas.

Is power, quite simply, a war continued by means other than weapons or battles?
― Michel Foucault, Il faut défendre la société, cours au Collège de France 1975-1976

The man of the 21st century finds himself intellectually, metaphysically, and spiritually unprepared—if not outright unfit—to confront the challenges cast upon him by the gods. This inadequacy does not stem from a lack of strength, vision, or mental acuity, but rather from a distorted worldview that dismisses power, violence, and struggle as vital and natural forces governing the human condition.

When faced with matters of life and death, Western policymakers instinctively avoid taking a decisive stance. Believing they can outmaneuver their adversaries and always find a middle ground, an “at the same time” strategy, they shy away from demonstrating their military strength, convinced that a resolution or peaceful solution is always within reach—even when their opponents openly declare intentions to invade, annihilate, or subvert.

The greatest challenge in 21st-century foreign policymaking is discerning threats in their true form. Our age is shrouded in ideologies that, if they don’t tint our vision with rose-colored hues, ultimately blind us to our own interests.

Moreover, this outlook is clouded by a false sense of triumph—a belief that Liberalism has prevailed across every country, region, and culture, leaving nothing left but to wait for it to absorb even the staunchest resistance.

Machiavelli's greatest lesson is not that rulers must be cynical or cunning to maintain peace while advancing their strategic interests, but that they must listen and observe with precision. The true and greatest threat to their throne often lies not in external foes but in their own failure to see situations as they truly are and to act accordingly.

“The great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities, and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are.”
— Machiavelli, Discourses on Livy, Book II, Chapter 13

Western policymakers have forgotten that the beauty of their parks, the comforts of their high standards of living, and the ease of their consumer lifestyles are safeguarded not by eloquent UN declarations, but by tanks, weapons, military bases, and the courage of men and women who risk their lives daily to keep their homelands secure.

This truth is neither glamorous to acknowledge nor easy to accept. Yet, in substituting moral causes for the hard realities of power struggles, a deliberate blindness to this reality is being fostered.

Though we have not yet reached the century’s halfway mark, it is already clear that Western foreign policy is paralyzed—overthinking each step, failing to recognize emerging threats, and scarcely finding the time or energy to address those already at hand.

I believe we stand on the brink of a profound crisis—intellectual on the surface, yet deeply metaphysical at its core, a crisis most evident in foreign policymaking.

The men and women of the 21st century have known only the digital realm as their gateway to other worlds, yet they have barely touched reality itself. Detached from the tangible consequences of their lofty ideals, they have yet to confront history as the relentless, violent struggle for survival that has shaped humanity time and again.

For now, we drift together on a fragile boat, blissfully unaware—until the storm descends.