In his opinion, only the US has the “credibility” to be a “policeman to restore order, a firefighter to put out the flames of conflict, and a kind of mayor, smart and sensible, to lead the rebuilding.”

Central to his desire to have a strong America is his belief in the necessity to counteract President Putin, who he called an “autocrat,” while adding that “Russia is obsessed with rebuilding the empire the Soviet Union lost.” 

New OpEd on US global leadership in @WSJ https://t.co/x1GhA0HuAM @camanpour; @wolfblitzer; @morningmika; @WillieGeist; @JoeNBC

— Anders Fogh Rasmussen (@AndersFoghR) September 21, 2016

“The world needs such a policeman if freedom and prosperity are to prevail against the forces of oppression, and the only capable, reliable and desirable candidate for the position is the United States,” the former NATO secretary general wrote in his editorial.

He also praised the US for its “leadership of the international rules-based order—which was created after World War II and which secured for the world an unprecedented period of peace, progress and prosperity.” 

Rasmussen fails to consider that since the start of the new millennium, the US has been involved in disastrous campaigns in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Pakistan’s tribal regions, while it has also failed in its fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

Despite the horrific statistics, this did not stop Rasmussen from saying that the US was looking for peace across the world in his piece for the Wall Street Journal.

“Just as only America has the material greatness to stop the slide into chaos, only America has the moral greatness to do it—not for the sake of power, but for the sake of peace.” 

Although not openly backing a candidate in November’s US presidential elections, Rasmussen seems to bank on a victory for Hillary Clinton, who has been openly critical of Russia and has expressed the need to continue to support NATO’s allies in Eastern Europe.