Ambiguity paralyzes US system of politics

The ambiguity in the political system of the United States has explicitly shown the dilemma of its flawed laws and inconsistent law enforcement, which often leads to troublemaking.

In recent times, political paralysis has grown to a greater extent, which has had an impact on the implementation of many laws in the US. A typical bourgeois class/elite group runs the state system, and prioritizing people's opinions is a false facade.

The US has long taken pride in portraying itself as a "nation of laws". However, it is now more apparent than ever that it has just become a "nation of flaws".

Racial discrimination, Islamophobia, a purely capitalist-entrenched political system and flawed institutional mechanisms have jeopardized the rule of law and created social disparities in the US.

It has been clear that a capitalist democracy and a policy conundrum in the US have triggered trust issues in its society and beyond its borders. The world has witnessed a lack of US interest in resolving common issues and abiding by established policies.

For instance, the US has supported the investigation of Russia for alleged war crimes by the International Criminal Court. How ironic to witness that the US is not a member of the ICC. Worse yet, in 2020, the US sanctioned ICC officials over the investigation of its alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.

Yet the US, along with other Western countries, is interested in igniting blame games. For example, it falsely accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, ignored that Iran was abiding by international conventions and the key multilateral agreement, and withdrew from the deal unilaterally.

It accused Russia of launching a military operation in Ukraine, totally ignoring the fact that Russia repeatedly warned against NATO breaking its promise to Russia by expanding constantly closer to its border.

The US and its leaders have claimed that the spread of democracy in the whole world is the keystone of their foreign policy, only to result in one humanitarian dis-aster after another.

Complete irony prevails, because the US has always meddled in other countries' internal affairs, often through regime change by "color revolutions", if not by assassinations or coup attempts against other state leaders. Numerous countries have gone through social and economic hardship after being forced, coerced or enticed to introduce US-favored voting practices. This demonstrates a great structural failure of the American democratic model.

The recent visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan was made to intervene in the internal affairs of China and infringe upon China's sovereignty over the island, despite the US repeatedly stating that it regards Taiwan as part of China, does not support "Taiwan independence "and does not engage in official exchanges with Taiwan.

Yet Pelosi calling Taiwan a "country" directly breaks the US' promises and openly supports "Taiwan independence". Her formal engagement with Taiwan has not only created a rupture between China and the US, but also sabotaged decades of US strategic ambiguity, which has to alarm China and the rest of the world.

Pelosi could have opted for a diplomatic stance instead of provoking a conflict by her reckless action. She has posed a challenge to a bedrock of the existing international order observed by more than 170 countries that support China's protest against her Taiwan visit.

Moreover, the US abhorrence toward a rising China explicitly depicts that it has adopted the notion of offensive realism.

The US leadership has spoken time and again at UN gatherings of respecting UN rules, yet it has long opted for actions of intervening in other nations' affairs in disregard of the UN Charter principles of noninterference and respect for sovereignty.

If the US wants to remain a relevant power in the UN-based world order, it must not ignite any conflict that relates to intervening in the domestic affairs of any country or violating others' sovereignty.

The administration of US President Joe Biden should conduct internal scrutiny instead of criticizing other countries' laws and policies with accusations.

The author is executive director of the Pakistan Research Center for a Community with Shared Future, based in Islamabad.