Much ink has been spilled about great leaders and the myriad ways in which they have shaped history. The reality is that great leaders are standouts; they are the exception.
While most leaders think themselves to be great, delude themselves into believing that they are great, they are not — and history bears this out.
It's our job, the public, to live within the confines of the capabilities of whichever leader is in power at any given time.
A good leader does no harm, ultimately leaving office not having ruined the situations they've inherited; certainly to not undo the good that they inherited.
Most leaders are simply custodians, and glorified custodians at that.
And then — there are the others, whom we must classify differently.
There are, even today, leaders whose model is to threaten and destroy other countries.
While at one time that nefarious goal that was achieved through military attacks and warring, that strategy has become a distant secondary force to be employed.
The methods of choice today are economic hardship and cyber warfare.
Iran, Russia and China have opted to use their computer skills as an effective way to attack their enemies. For their modus operandi in thwarting enemy countries, the United States has chosen economic power.
The world is changing quickly, but not all the news is bad.
All is not lost.
Globally, a system of checks and balances is thankfully in place.
Such checks and balances act as forces to help keep the good strong, while reining-in forces of evil.
This should not be understood as a sermon or a judgement, but rather, as an axiom.
A primary goal of Iran, Russia and China is to destroy first the United States and then expand their influence to the entire Western world. (After that is accomplished, they will turn on each other.)
This has become their objective not simply because the United States is their polar opposite, the antithesis of everything they represent or because the U.S. is, individually and collectively, in conflict with each of them.
It's because America is the sole power stopping these countries from advancing their mission for global control.
In the context of this larger conflict, there are important constants that must be maintained and understood. Paramount among them is that, historically and politically, certain nations are ironclad allies.
These alliances are like marriages and while there may sometimes be disagreements — even heated arguments, such discord should never attain levels leading to divorce.
When joined together those allies create a bullwork against their enemies.
In other words, the Western world alliance is the bullwork against the objectives of Iran, Russia and China.
Of course, I am oversimplifying, and am doing so deliberately.
I want to make this point clearly understood.
Obviously, each country is different and needs to be dealt with, or handled, differently.
While Iran, Russia, and China are similar enough and share enough — especially vis a' vis their objectives and their enmity for the United States, that they can often be lumped together as one threatening alliance, there are also nuanced differences which must be dealt with.
So, too, the Western alliance, on some occasions, can and should be divvied up.
Iran is a clear and present danger, looming larger with the passage of time.
The election of Ebrahim Raisi as their new president, assuming office in mid-August, only adds to this danger.
The bulwark that can best, now, keep Iran in check is the alliance between Israel and the United States, with the new prime minister and new president, respectively, at the helm.
Blocking Iran from progressing on her mission is more than the right thing to do, for the sake and the safety of Israel and in the best interests of the United States globally, it's a matter of life and death,
New Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will likely be invited to the White House soon.
His arrival on Pennsylvania Avenue will be celebrated — the subtext of which will be, from both men’s perspective, the departure of Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu.
And while there are many issues upon which Biden and Bennett disagree, especially Palestinian statehood and settlements, they are in concert on the biggest issue.
And that biggest issue is Iran.
Israel has purportedly already successfullylaunched an attack against Iranian labs that produce nuclear centrifuges.
The attack took place at the time of the Iranian election and while the P5+1 was meeting with Iran in Vienna.
Compellingly, Iran reports that they repelled the attack.
If the attack was successful, it significantly set back the Iranian timeline for uranium enrichment, stopping the ticking clock and lending the rest of the world a bit of breathing room, and the time to find other solutions.
Biden and his team want to return to the infamous 2015 nuclear deal.
Saying that Israel is opposed to this is an understatement.
But that does not diminish the strength of their alliance. It means that they must constructively and creatively and decisively come up with a solution.
And then, if they really do change the course of history, they will rightfully assume places as great leaders.
Micah Halpern is a political and foreign affairs commentator. He founded "The Micah Report" and hosts "Thinking Out Loud with Micah Halpern" a weekly TV program and "My Chopp" a daily radio spot. A dynamic speaker, he specializes in analyzing world events and evaluating their relevance and impact. Follow him on Twitter @MicahHalpern. Read Micah Halpern's Reports — More Here.