Faced With A Rash Of Global Crisis, Western Governments Are Stretched To The Limit

US Democratic presidential hopeful, Barack Obama, waves as he arrives to make a speech in front of the Victory Column in Berlin on July 24, 2008. Obama warned America could not quell violence in Afghanistan alone, and called on Europe for more troops and funding to defeat the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. MICHAEL GOTTSCHALK/AFP/Getty Images

Year Of Crises Stretches Militaries, Governments To Limit -- Reuters

(Reuters) - From a standoff with Russia to fights against Ebola and Islamic State, 2014 has pitted western policymakers against a scale of crises unparalleled in recent years.

The result, current and former officials say, has been a degree of overstretch in Washington, Whitehall and Brussels on a scale few can remember. The risk is that other danger signs get missed.

Even when officials say they know what needs to be done, an era of budget cuts means the required resources, particularly military, may simply not be there.

President Barack Obama took office wanting to move on from an era of international entanglements in Iraq and Afghanistan. But while large U.S.-led military interventions might be over, a period of multiple crises may only just be beginning.

"The world is changing in front of us," U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno told a military conference in Washington last month.

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My Comment: So much for the optimism six years ago that many believed that then newly elected President Obama would bring to the international stage.