Obama's 'most peaceful era in human history'

Obviously if we were to return to the 14th century, when bubonic plague was ravaging the globe, or to the early 20th century, when the color of one's skin was enough to determine one's fate, we could perhaps conclude that we are very lucky to be alive here and now, in the "most peaceful era in human history," as U.S. President Barack Obama described it on Monday.

It's entirely uncertain, however, that people in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Nigeria, North Korea and even in the streets of Iran believe Obama is right. Even the capitals of Europe that Obama holds in such esteem, such as Paris and Brussels, are currently under the double threat of Islamic State terrorism and the rise of the radical right. We would excuse people there for being skeptical of the elation expressed by the American president, who apparently will continue to be the president of unprecedented wishful thinking until his term in office ends. Some could even claim that Obama's optimistic view was swayed by the virtual reality glasses he donned at the Hannover Messe in Germany, the world's largest industrial technology trade show. Between you and me, I'd like a pair of those glasses too.

Obama is not responsible for all the ills of our world. He inherited a large number of the conflicts in the world today. But it's hard to say he resolved many of them. It's also hard to argue that he prevented new conflicts from emerging, like the ones here in the Middle East and the one between the Ukrainians and Russians, despite the "reboot" of relations between Moscow and Washington in 2009. That new era should have already been upon us. In actuality, relations between the two countries can best be described as the fourth Ice Age. That's how it is with Obama. That's also how it was with his prognostications about ("junior varsity squad") Islamic State: high hopes that led to hard knocks.

Obama is a president with many good intentions (I would like to hope), but something went wrong for him along the way. The "messiah" president, who in Prague in 2009 called for reducing the world's nuclear weapons arsenals to a minimum until they are one day gone completely, didn't respond when the leader of a country (Syria's Bashar Assad) used chemical weapons against his own people on at least 14 separate occasions. He even signed a nuclear deal with Iran, Assad's partner in crime. The deal he signed in Vienna actually welcomes Iran into the club of nuclear nations, which it will join before little Prince George, the cute toddler he met in London over the weekend, turns 18. Iran is not changing; it is only getting stronger. But the Islamic republic's neighbors should sleep well at night, because this is "the most peaceful, most prosperous, most progressive era in human history," and things have never been better.

Truth be told, Obama is living in a movie we all want a part in. In this movie of his everyone is the good guy, everyone loves one another, and most importantly everyone has really good health insurance. Obama's reality is precisely like the health insurance reforms he forced on Americans: In theory everything is wonderful, but in real life it's not all that great. Maybe this is why 83 senators asked to increase defense aid to Israel -- because the world isn't becoming a safer place, even if Attila the Hun isn't around anymore.

Obama has a tendency to build high hopes. Remember the hullabaloo over his Cairo speech? Remember what happened afterward? It's possible that Obama's words from Hannover on Monday managed to snap even Hosni Mubarak to his feet. Over 80 million Egyptians truly can't recall such tranquility.

The truth is that Obama is a president with exceptional capabilities. He has even managed to jar the mythically unflappable Brits. The American president's intervention in the country's internal politics, by calling on British citizens to vote against leaving the EU, has not only incensed the Brits but according to polls has increased the number of those who favor such an exit.

Some 400,000 Syrians have been slaughtered in their own country. Not since the Second World War has Europe been flooded with so many refugees and migrants. Also not since that war has the radical right in Europe posed such a challenge. The threat of terror has never been as tangible as the threat posed by Islamic State today. And the stagnation presently threatening European markets has never been worse.

But not to worry, although we may be on the precipice of the abyss in many places across the globe, next year, heaven forbid, we could take that large step forward -- among other things, because of Obama's legacy.

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