Obama faces difficulties

The American people are willing to give their president a lot of leeway - except when it comes to letting the country appear politically or economically weak. That simply doesn't align with image Americans have of themselves as a superpower. US citizens demand strong leadership from their president. Americans who want to live out their starry-eyed idealism should join a church group or start a local recycling initiative. But they shouldn't stand in the White House and control the fate of the country, and perhaps even the world.

Obama's authority suffers

US President Barack Obama is letting the United States appear weak. He has withdrawn troops from Iraq, where the country has since fallen into chaos, and pulled them out of Afghanistan, a nation without a government and no forces in place capable of confronting the Taliban. Obama has urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, but he remains in power. And now, the news has trickled out that efforts to rescue American journalist James Foley from a jihadist militant group were unsuccessful.

All of these developments have had a disastrous impact on the American people: The man sitting in the White House is either not capable of doing the job or just can't catch a break. Neither is acceptable. It doesn't help that - both worldwide and at home - Obama has championed improved rights for minorities and the economically and socially disadvantaged. At the end of it all, his leadership has suffered, and that has consequences that span the globe.

Short on influence

Russian President Vladimir Putin ignored Obama's warning about continued support of the rebels in eastern Ukraine. The result was the destabilization of an entire region. At the same time, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took no notice of Obama's plea to make a deal with the Palestinians - the quest for peace in the Middle East has faltered. China is another example. The United States' biggest creditor has modernized its army and expanded its influence beyond the shores of the Pacific Rim.

The list of states that could care less what Obama says or wants continues to grow. A power vacuum is left behind wherever the United States retreats and Islamists or authoritarian rulers are quick to seize their opportunity to fill it. The United States is losing its ability to keep the peace.

Obama's bravery

Truth be told, this political change was going to have to come at some point. If not, overexpansion will threaten the fate of the United States - a move that, as world history has shown, led to the fall of many imperial powers.

It does say something for Obama's courage that he hasn't shied away from difficult issues. In the long run, maintaining a military machine cannot be in the interest of the country, particularly while US infrastructure falls apart due to a lack of finances. From an American perspective, it can't make sense to build hospitals in Kabul while millions of US citizens can't afford a visit to the doctor. Restraint will make the country stronger.

One thing is for sure: President Obama's poll numbers are bad. Then again, he can't be re-elected. The president is paying the political price of his two predecessors, who made the US a kind of world police force. It's very possible that Obama's popularity will continue to fall, just as they did for President Jimmy Carter, who also wanted to free American hostages but failed.

But it's the people who've been written off that tend to live longest. Obama has two more years in office. Germany should help with the reorientation of the American foreign and defense policies, out of its own interest.