He heard the crowd chant. “USA! USA!” He had done it. Evan Lysacek became the first American to win Olympic gold in men’s figure skating since 1988.
Many U.S. athletes have struck gold — and silver and bronze — at this year’s Winter Olympics. That’s a pleasant change from the Cold War era, when the Soviets dominated the award ceremonies, while their U.S. counterparts made appearances mostly at the afterparties.
Of course, the Soviet Union — and many of its East European satellites — were also a mighty force in the Summer Olympics, too. Outstanding performances at the games swelled Soviet hearts with pride, but the shiny medals only masked the rot behind the Iron Curtain.
The Soviet command economy was a tottering wreck. In the Evil Empire’s waning days, its national debt consumed a quarter of the entire government budget. As the Soviet Union disintegrated, the Russian economy went into free fall, constricting by a tenth in the first half of 1991 alone. The official currency, the ruble, was virtually useless.
Bartering became the norm. And all the Olympic gold in the world couldn’t salvage the economy.
There is lesson there. As proud as we are of our athletes, this is no time for American triumphalism. Our economy and our Olympic athletic programs are headed in different directions.
And bad economic policy can take a toll far beyond just jobs and the strength of the dollar. It can damage national security as well. Consider trade policy, for example.
Two of America’s most important allies are Australia and Great Britain. Defense cooperation treaties that reduce barriers to defense-related trade could both spur joint research and development activities and improve the interoperability of our forces.
Such treaties were drafted years ago and have languished ever since. Yet even in the midst of a stubborn recession, President Obama shows no interest in pushing these treaties forward.
It should be noted that President George W. Bush, after getting the treaty process started in 2003, failed to devote the energy needed to get the deals past Congress. But Obama has heaped inertia on inaction. None of our allies has an inkling of Obama’s strategy for getting these deals to the finish line — or even if there is one.
And other countries stand on the sidelines watching the Anglo-Aussie-American debacle and wonder what this bodes for them. If the U.S. can’t close a defense trade cooperation deal with its two staunchest allies, what can it get done?
Last December, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee tried to move the ball a bit, asking the Obama administration to lay out the legislation and regulations needed to implement the agreements. Three months later, the committee has yet to receive anything of substance from the State, Justice or Defense departments.
The president has talked a lot about improving “trade” of late, but it hasn’t translated into positive action. While American speed skaters fly around the track and snowboarders zip downhill, the White House sits inert. That’s bad.
Australia is pursuing its greatest defense modernization program since the Cold War, and the United States is missing out. Boeing, for example, can’t even share technology with its own subsidiary in Australia because of trade restrictions. Meanwhile, British technical innovations die a quiet death because regulatory barriers frustrate cooperative research and development with U.S. firms.
It’s no way to boost an economy or defend a nation. Obama should prompt the bureaucracy to act. (Step 1: Give the Foreign Relations Committee some help.) Then he could step up to the podium for a medal.
Examiner Columnist James Jay Carafano is a senior research fellow for national security at The Heritage Foundation ( heritage.org).
