When my first big science-fiction novel was released, 20 years ago now (!) I was at a con, on a panel about... something or another. The one question I got from an attendee surprised me a little. "When you describe your vision of the future," this person asked, "...it looks like you are just describing the United States, upscaled."
"Well, yes," I replied. "That's the best possible future for humanity that I can imagine." And that holds, to this day, the best possible future for humanity is one of individual rights, liberty, and property, and limited government. But through the history of humankind, that hasn't been the norm, and it's not the norm in much of the world today. American politicians haven't seemed too much inclined to try to fix that.
Until now.
President Donald Trump has a different idea. He's willing to exercise the most muscular foreign policy the United States has ever used, and he's using it to squash socialist regimes and vicious theocracies, and if this all works, it will leave the planet in a very, very different place than it was in 2016, or even in 2024.
The president sent some of our most elite forces into Venezuela, a communist dictatorship, in the middle of the night to snatch the dictator, who was wanted on various charges in the United States. That former dictator, Nicolás Maduro, is now in an American jail, awaiting trial, and Venezuela is reforming. One of the leaders of the opposition to Maduro, Nobel Peace Prize-winning María Corina Machado, is soon to return to Venezuela to help bring her country into the community of modern nations. There will (hopefully) be elections soon, and Venezuela looks to be re-entering the free, modern world.
Read More: U.S. and Venezuela Restore Diplomatic Relations in New Major Breakthrough
The president, along with our ally Israel, has sent our Navy and Air Force to systematically dismantle the vicious theocracy of the Iranian mullahs. That's still ongoing, but nobody has suffered under these 7th-century barbarians more than the people of Iran - Persia - who are finally seeing some opportunity to retake their country from the barbarians. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the regime's SS, is falling apart. Iran's theocrats are still lashing out, but every missile they launch, every drone they use, is one less in their inventory. This is, like all wars, a war of logistics, and on that front, Iran simply can't win. The only way the theocracy survives is if we quit and let them stay in charge, which sure doesn't look likely. It's not over yet; as I wrote on Saturday:
This all could be the sign of a regime coming apart. Or it could be a sign that the IRGC intends to dig in and fight to the last man, which, candidly, isn't exactly inconsistent with their death-cult ideology.
This will have to be fought to the finish, and America and Israel will have to be willing to stay that course. So far, though, indications are that finally, we are going to do just that, which will put paid to the mullahs once and for all.
Read More: Trump’s ‘Complete Destruction’ Warning Ignored by Iran: IDF, U.S. Strikes Burn Airport in Tehran
Finally, Cuba. This is an economic squeeze play. Venezuela was a primary source of oil and natural gas for Cuba. That supply has been cut off. Cuba remains a client state of Russia, but Russia has plenty of problems of its own. The government is losing control of the flow of news and information into the island nation, and the Cuban people are awakening to the fact that it is their country's communist government, not the United States, that is responsible for their poverty, for the misery that always seems to accompany communist rule. And, as with Iran, as with Venezuela, there are huge expat communities, many of whom would love nothing more than to return home and help set their countries to rights.
As my friend and colleague Bob Hoge recently reported:
Trump is not just using the stick, though; he reportedly is in discussions to use the carrot and come to an economic agreement with Cuba that would give an off-ramp for President Miguel Díaz-Canel. Details of that possible deal are scant at this time.
Read More: Cuba on the Brink: Trump Says Country 'In Its Last Moments of Life' As Anti-Regime Protests Escalate
If all this works - and that's a big "if" - President Donald Trump and his administration will have been responsible for a global renaissance that will be written about in history books for a hundred years or more. Russia and China won't be immune. They have massive internal problems, not the least of which is demographic; as the old saying goes, the future belongs to those who show up for it, and Russia and China appear to be opting out. With Iran apparently going down, China, which gets much of its oil from Iran, appears to be pulling in its horns where Taiwan is concerned, at least for now, until that situation resolves itself. Russia shows every indication of continuing the war in Ukraine, but as the other problem states around the world solve their problems, Russia will be ever more isolated.
Also, Vladimir Putin won't live forever, and he is the major driver behind Russian policy right now, having amassed more personal power than anyone since Stalin.
Nothing is decided yet. Things could still go horribly south. There are many battles yet to fight, and many lone-wolf or small cell operators will try to shake us with attacks and atrocities. But indications now are that this poor, battered old globe may be about to turn a corner. The primary forces pushing both Islamic theocracy and communism are in trouble; they are standing on the edge of a cliff, and it's past time the free world pushed them over.
