Unappreciated Problem Starting to Get Pretty Darned Appreciated

I have chronicled the mounting list of problems - mostly of their own making - that the Obama administration faces: a persistently stagnant economy, increasingly independent Congressional Democrats (and alot less of them!), a less and less fawningly loyal MSM, and a crumbling electoral coalition among them. One aspect that I have made mention of as an underappreciated problem for the Obama administration is the goings-on throughout the the world. The bad guys have been emboldened, the good guys discouraged and the opportunities for friendship and productive cooperation squandered. Quite predictably, the world looks a mess and the ugliness promises only to get more ugly now that Obama has had two years to entrench the view that he is either a pushover or doesn't care. Bret Stephens illuminates this state of affairs in his column today, "Obama's Air Guitar" (great analogy!). So world affairs could be one more impediment to the era of Hopeandchange as we move into Act II of our great experiment in mismatching qualities and qualifications to the requirements of the most important office in the land. Or it could be nothing, as Presidents who lose control of their domestic agenda invariably turn to foreign policy to get things done and demonstrate leadership and grasp. Obama clearly now is turning to foreign policy to show that he is relevant and perhaps he can address the growing global instability born of multipolarity. Or perhaps, like with the US economy, he will prove to be either not up to the task or extremely productive at pulling the wrong levers. On present course it does not look good.