- Establishing peace between the Israelis and Palestinians
- Containing China (aka pivoting to Asia)
- The civil war in Syria
- The breakdown of security in Iraq
- The state of internal security in Afghanistan
- Stopping Iran's nuclear program
- Hunting down 200-plus kidnapped Nigerian school girls
- Stopping North Korea's nuclear program
- Supporting protesters in Venezuela
- Protecting the territorial integrity of Ukraine
- Restoring Trans-Atlantic ties the better to confront Russia
- Protecting America's interests in the Arctic
- Battling al-Qaeda in Yemen
- Battling al-Qaeda in Afghanistan
- Battling al-Qaeda in Somalia
- Battling al-Qaeda in Pakistan
- Battling al-Qaeda in [fill in the blank]
- Reversing the warming of planet Earth
- Reassuring Japan while dampening a resurgent nationalism there
- Reassuring South Korea (about a resurgent, nationalist Japan)
- Eliminating the world's nuclear weapons
- Determining the route of Canadian gas pipelines
- The internal governance of Egypt
- Policing global sea lanes
I've probably only scratched the surface. My point is that we should spend a bit less energy decrying this or that administration's incompetence (though it matters) and a bit more on the extravagance of their to-do list.
*As determined by the world's foreign policy pundits, analysts and politicians.
