John Bolton: ‘The World's Descending Into Chaos’ Under Obama

John Bolton: ‘The World's Descending Into Chaos’ Under Obama

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On Fox Business Wednesday, former ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton declared that under the president’s ineffective leadership, “the world’s descending into chaos” and if America continues to pull back internationally, "you're going to have anarchy increasing."

Speaking with host Stuart Varney, Bolton first discussed Vladimir Putin’s hostile strategy in Ukraine and Europe, including increasing the number of Russian troops at the border and conducting cyber-warfare against several European countries—“aggressive” tactics to which Bolton saw no end in sight.

Varney then transitioned to the recentWSJ/NBC poll that presents damning numbers about the American people’s opinion of President Obama’s leadership—particularly in foreign policy, with a dismal 36% approval.

Bolton: Yeah, I’d like to know who those 36% are because the world’s descending into chaos. And I think this poll and the drop in approval numbers overall, gives the lie to the conventional political wisdom that Americans don’t care about foreign policy, that it’s too remote from their lives.

I think the American people are much more sensible and practical than their political leaders, and they see that because our economy here at home depends on a global economy that instability in Europe can have a profound effect...

Varney argued that the American public has become used to the 24-hour news cycle, and expects stories like Ukraine to be resolved, but they are “just not going away.”

Bolton responded, “It’s just the tip of the iceberg,” pointing out that Putin broadcasted his intentions eight years ago, but was being met by "no effective American or European resistance":

Bolton: It’s just the tip of the iceberg. Look, Putin gave us strategic warning eight years ago when he said the collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century. That was a statement right then that he intended to get Russian hegemony in the space of the former Soviet Union.

That’s what he is doing and he is meeting no effective American or European resistance.

Varney then asked Bolton if he agreed that the problem was that the president had “withdrawn from the game”:

Bolton: I think that’s a large measure of it. Look, what minimal international order and stability there’s been since World War II has been because of American strength, the projection of our power, our system of alliances around the world. International trade, finance, travel, you name it, didn’t get there by accident. And if the United States pulls back, you’re going to have anarchy increasing. You can see that in the Middle East today, but signs of it exist everywhere.