Michael Klare is my colleague at Hampshire College and an astute critic of American foreign policy. He has written an essay entitled “Delusionary Thinking in Washington, The Desperate Plight of a Declining Superpower”. The essence of his argument can be found in this sentence: “Anyone who believes that the clock can now be turned back to 2002, when U.S. strength was at its zenith and the Iraq invasion had not yet depleted American wealth and vigor, is undoubtedly suffering from delusional thinking.” The essay is definitely worth reading.
The most popular sport in the world, football to most, but soccer to American fans, has been roiled for many years by charges of corruption against its governing body, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The US and Swiss authorities have arrested several high officials in the organization for taking bribes after years of non-action by other countries. Many believe that the US is simply retaliating for losing out on the World Cup to Qatar, and it would be hard to deny the charge. But it would also be hard to deny that the charges against FIFA are quite compelling. Nonetheless, Russian President Putin believes that the US has gone too far in exercising its legal authority to bring these charges against non-Americans.
The US is not the only country to extend its laws abroad. Spain is a country that claims universal jurisdiction over crimes against humanity. Accordingly, it has charged Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram, with crimes against humanity in the case of an attack committed in 2013 in which a Spanish nun was assaulted. Spain’s universal jurisdiction only operates when a Spanish national is affected by the crime.
World Politics News 
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