The mid-term elections in the United States drew a miserable voter turnout, but the end result was to hand both the house and the Senate to a Republican party majority. President Obama can no longer rely on anything other than his executive power and his ability to veto bills to try and achieve a lasting presidential legacy. He has two more years to run as his nation's leader - and it seems likely that little will actually get done.
What does that mean for America ? If both sides of politics refuse to budge and reach a degree of accommodation the political deadlock will ensure that important issues are not resolved. The issue of universal health insurance called "Obamacare "hangs in the balance. The Keystone pipeline to bring Canada's tar sands oil to southern refineries awaits a decision - and perhaps the most pressing issue is to decide on immigration reform to decide the fate of the huge numbers of undocumented illegals living in the country. Then there is the paralysis of the national economy. America spends more than it earns and it faces disaster if it continues to just print money to fill the gap.
Both sides of politics will need to keep in mind voter reaction in the lead-up to the next presidential election in 2016. The fact that so few actually bothered to vote in the mid-term indicates a rejection of unswerving partisan attitudes and deadlock on issues crying out for a solution. The voters sent members to Congress to run the country - not to engage in trench warfare. The American people will not tolerate the sort of paralysis that sees the government ceasing to govern !
How will this election play out on the world scene ? Probably very badly ! Since the end of the second world war the world has looked to America for leadership. That was a role the United Nations was supposed to attain, but when world friction came to the crunch - it was the massive American military machine that decided issues. In the 1950's the Korean war was a consortium of nations repelling a North Korean invasion under United Nations auspices, but the vast number of boots on the ground and ships and planes engaging in combat - were American.
Unfortunately, many heads of government seem convinced that President Obama is a weak president who no longer seeks to lead the free world. His passivity over Syria's use of chemical weapons probably encouraged Russia's military adventure into Ukraine and made China more assertive in both the South and East China seas. Then there is the phenomenon of a war roiling the Middle East. That has the prospect of a holy war that may change the face of the Arab nations and extend across the fabric of Africa's old colonial states. It is fast gathering military strength, and the only nation with the fire power to hold it back has made it clear that it's contribution will be limited to air strikes. Without American boots on the ground, a consortium of countries under United Nations control seems very unlikely.
It is said that nature abhors a vacuum - and if a lame duck presidency in the United States creates such a vacuum there is an absolute certainty that it will be filled by someone else. Vladimir Putin has been modernising Russia's military and he has evident ambitions to recreate the old Soviet Communist empire. The Chinese economic miracle seems to be slowing and there is a danger that it's leaders may embrace nationalism - with all the dangers that brings. Japan is fast walking away from it's pacifist constitution. In Europe the EU is under strain with disparate economies struggling to remain within a common currency - and then there is the world wide problem of hunger and war sending vast numbers of people over national borders seeking shelter.
The last two years of Obama's presidency will be long years when it comes to American influence on world events. It is possible that both sides of American politics will engage in cross the aisle deal making by sheer necessity, but there is no sign of that in present posturing. It may be that this mid-term election heralds the end of an era for the world - and brings in the frightening prospect of an unknown new world order.
The history books may record that 2014 was the year that changed the world !
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