by Maureen Steele
July 14, 2025 - In a world growing more unstable by the hour, the death of the statesman may be the most dangerous funeral we have failed to attend.
Two articles recently landed in my text thread, sent by none other than Colonel Douglas MacGregor - a man not given to idle commentary. One detailed Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s 2021 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin: a moment of calm, pragmatic diplomacy between two nations with overlapping security interests in Syria and Iran. The other? A 2025 social media post from United States President Donald J. Trump (archived), passionately defending Benjamin Netanyahu from what he calls a “witch hunt” and demanding the cancellation of Netanyahu’s trial.
On the surface, these stories appear unrelated - one diplomatic, one dramatic. But seen through the eyes of a seasoned strategist like Macgregor, they form a composite sketch of a world order unraveling - and a U.S. foreign policy increasingly driven by grievance and emotion rather than strategy or statesmanship.
In 2021, Israel’s leadership still played the long game. Bennett’s meeting with Putin was measured and sober, acknowledging Russia’s indispensable role in the region and leaning on the deep historical ties shared between the two countries. Syria, Iran, terrorism - these weren’t media slogans. They were the realities of a shifting global chessboard, and Israel, under Bennett, understood the value of relationships built on mutual interest.
Contrast that with Trump’s 2025 post about Netanyahu. It is not about policy. It is not about national security. It is about him and Bibi; and how they have both been wronged. It reads not like a statesman’s statement, but like a cult leader’s creed. In Trump’s rendering, Israel isn’t a sovereign nation with complex alliances and enemies. It is a backdrop for a personal drama. Netanyahu isn’t a Prime Minister. He is a martyr. A warrior. A victim of deep-state treachery. Sound familiar?
The transformation is as stark as it is sobering: foreign policy has become performance art. Gone are the Kissinger-like minds playing realpolitik. In their place stand grievance merchants - dramatists waging psychological warfare on their own citizens, while adversaries quietly realign the global order.
While America obsesses over elections, indictments and narratives, Russia plays the long game. It doesn’t weep. It doesn’t rage. It doesn’t tweet. It strategizes. That is exactly what Vladimir Putin was doing in Sochi in 2021 - reminding Israel that Russia remains a necessary partner, a dominant presence in the region, and a gatekeeper of Iran’s nuclear aspirations.
When Bennett met Putin, he understood this. There were no theatrics. There was no screaming about fake news, no demand for loyalty oaths or public allegiance. Just diplomacy. Real, boring, effective diplomacy - the kind that secures borders, prevents wars and buys time.
That model is now almost extinct.
In the current political landscape, the United States no longer acts like a global superpower. It acts like an aggrieved teenager. Emotional. Impulsive. Easily manipulated; and above all - obsessed with image over outcomes.
We used to set terms. Now we whine about loyalty. We used to deter enemies. Now we throw tantrums when the media doesn’t cheer. While we rage-tweet and prosecute each other, Russia continues to lock down energy corridors, expand regional influence, and neutralize American proxies.
When Donald Trump - the de facto leader of half the country - chooses to focus his public energy on defending Netanyahu from prosecution rather than acknowledging Israel’s strategic peril or addressing the deep shifts underway in the Middle East, it is not just a missed opportunity. It is a symptom of terminal decline.
The statesman is dead. In his place, we have martyrs, messiahs and marketing campaigns.
There is a reason Colonel MacGregor put these two messages side by side. He is not comparing leaders – he is comparing eras. One was ruled by strategy. The other by sentiment. One built bridges to powerful players like Russia. The other burned them for applause.
Here is the hard truth no one wants to say out loud: the world is shifting eastward. Toward nations that still think, still plan, still execute. Toward Russia. Toward China. Toward realpolitik; and away from the emotional empire that was once America and now behaves more like an entertainment company with nuclear weapons.
Israel now faces a similar choice. It can remain a credible player on the world stage, grounded in strategic alliances and diplomatic clarity - or it can go the way of America, turning its national identity into a cult of personality and its legal system into a gladiator arena.
Macgregor’s message isn’t just about Israel. It is a mirror for us. A warning. That in the absence of the statesman, power always fills the vacuum; and the powers rising now have no use for emotion - only leverage.
If America wants to lead again, it must think again; and to think again, we must mourn the statesman, learn from his death, and revive what made him great: restraint, clarity, courage and the pursuit of what serves the nation - not the self.