Amid rising global tension over totalitarian regimes abusing their own people, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations sent shockwaves through the politically correct class when she observed that “a government is not legitimate merely because it exists.” She went further when she explained to reporters that “we have war when one of the parties to a conflict wants something more than it wants peace.” Each of these statements aptly apply to the failed regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Al Assad, which has used banned chemical weapons against its own people. President Obama drew the “red line in the sand” in Syria regarding the use of these weapons, but it took President Trump to punish the Assad regime for crossing it.

The above quotes were, indeed, uttered by the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N….in the 1980s. Those stirring and powerful words were spoken by Jeane Kirkpatrick, not Nikki Haley, at the height of the Cold War. The fact that they could well have been attributed to Ambassador Haley, however, is a testament to Haley’s steely resolve and polished rhetoric after only weeks on the job. Nikki Haley has come to the U.N. at a time no less consequential than the Cold War tenure of Jeane Kirkpatrick under Ronald Reagan. From confronting radical Islamic terrorism to a resurgent Russian aggression to a rising Chinese military industrial complex, America’s global leadership is being challenged from all sides. In a turbulent sea of world affairs, America must have a steady hand in the White House and a spine of tempered steel at the United Nations. Ambassador Nikki Haley is proving to be the latter.

On Wednesday at the U.N., Haley told the delegates in language reminiscent of Kirkpatrick that “the U.S. sees yesterday’s attack as a disgrace at the highest level — an assurance that humanity means nothing to the Syrian government.” She went on to warn that “when the United Nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in life of states that we are compelled to take our own action.” Such resolve and determination by the United States was never shown during the last administration unless it was directed against our allies like Israel. For the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. to chastise the world body for feckless ineffectiveness, while appealing to common humanity, is refreshing and a welcome change after eight years of indecisiveness under President Obama.

During her confirmation hearing back in January, then-Governor Nikki Haley asked if the U.N. was worth America’s money. Now, she is fighting to make sure that our country is getting its money’s worth out of the U.N. and / or calling it out for failing to confront terror and inhumanity around the world. Haley clearly understands that the U.S. Ambassador’s role at the United Nations is to defend America’s national security interests and to preserve our leadership in the world. I am proud to see that my friend Nikki Haley is more than up to the task. It is abundantly clear that she is the new Jeane Kirkpatrick on the Security Council.