noun. The state or character of being powerless; absence or lack of power.

noun. The state or character of being powerless; absence or lack of power.

noun. the quality of lacking strength or power; being weak and feeble

"And so when the Obama Administration decides it can do no better than stand by, ring its hands and express "disappointment" at the resumption of settlement expansion, its powerlessness is taken for granted, as if it were a simple fact of nature."

helplessness  

quality  

helplessness  impuissance  ineffectiveness  ineffectuality  ineffectualness  

aimlessness  beggary  deadness  defenselessness  despondency  

impotence