Can the US avoid global crisis in ’12?

Opinion: January 13, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

Every few years, the world grabs the United States by the lapels and shouts, “Pay attention!” Then, millions of Americans look around and wonder, “How did this happen?” A few years later, attention wavers again, people get distracted, tired of worrying about what goes on in faraway places. And the cycle begins again.

It shouldn’t take a 9/11 or a Pearl Harbor to remind us that we all need to keep a close eye on what goes on in this very turbulent planet. It’s always true, but it’s even more important in 2012, as we watch global events transforming the world faster than ever.

To be fair, while many do grow distracted, millions of other Americans know we live in a small world that won’t leave us alone. Isolationism is simply not an option for a country like the United States.

And yet, we can always count on a few politicians singing that alluring siren song, urging voters to turn inward and let the foreigners sort out their own problems, saying it’s none of America’s business what goes on beyond its borders. The mantras are always attractive. “Why do we have to be the world’s police?” asks Ron Paul, the current high priest in the church of “It’s their business,” and voters nod their agreement. Why indeed?

America tried to ignore great cataclysms before, to no avail. Washington, for example, tried to keep the country out of World Wars I and II. The efforts only made the tragedies worse. Some politicians had exploited the public’s wishes to “worry about our own problems.” Then the wars became America’s unavoidable problem.

Global impact

The tendency to let our attention drift is understandable. The United States is an enormous, fascinating country. There’s plenty to keep us occupied here. It’s easier to remember the world matters when you live in a tiny country surrounded by large neighbors — some of which have a history of invading you. You don’t need to remind the people of, say, the Netherlands or Belgium to keep up with world news. But even the planet’s most powerful nation can feel the impact of what people do in distant lands.

There’s no shortage of reminders. The recent threat from Iran to block the Strait of Hormuz is an early sign of the world trying to reach out and grab America’s lapels.

If Iran blocks that narrow passage in the Persian Gulf, where much of the region’s oil sails to world markets, there’s no politician who will keep oil prices from skyrocketing unless he takes action to reopen the Strait. Anything else would cause a global economic meltdown.

We rightly want to keep our focus on urgent domestic problems. Too many people have lost their homes; many more have lost their jobs. If Iran — more than 7,000 miles away from Iowa — carried out this threat, far more Americans would face hardship.

And that’s just one of the many “ifs” we face this year. Countless challenges and risks will loom throughout the Middle East, Europe and elsewhere.

In the months to come, the temptation to turn away from world events will be great. A political year inevitably brings out the isolationist voices. And in a time of economic weakness, the temptation is even greater to believe them.

Campaign coverage

Just as important, an election year means news organizations will devote an outsized portion of their budgets to covering the campaigns. That means fewer resources for history-making expensive-to-cover events that seem remote, but have the power to reshape our lives. We will hear every detail of the candidates’ lives, including many that are completely trivial and irrelevant, but we will get caught up in the melodrama.

Let’s hope news organizations won’t abdicate their responsibility to tell us what is happening around the world. Not only that. We should demand that political journalists question candidates on world affairs, making them an important campaign issue. The coming years will test the wisdom and mettle of whoever is president of the United States, and the biggest challenges will likely come from abroad, no matter how much we want inward.

No matter what any politician says, the United States simply does not have the choice of ignoring what goes on abroad. Like it or not, the United States is a major player, a powerful economy, an ideological force. It has no choice but to remain engaged on the global stage. Otherwise, the world will come calling and demand that Americans pay attention.

Frida Ghitis writes about global affairs for The Miami Herald. Distributed by MCT Information Services.