By Their Fruits will Ye know them (Math VII 16-20)
Jamie O’Hara
August 10, 2007
For neoconservatives the end of the Cold War confirmed their argument that a hard line policy against Communism was the reason for the U.S. success against the Soviet Union and the continuation of such a policy necessary if the U.S. was to be a successful leader. Dazzled by this certainty they captured the Republican Party, first, and then, after a contested election, the nation’s executive power. The tragic terrorist attacks of 9/11/01 raised their ideology to the rank of public policy and this time against a world wide threat, ambiguously defined. Have they been right?
Convinced of the ultimate triumph of American political principles, American “exceptionalism”, they sought to make use of the supreme military power of the United States to impose order all around the world based on human rights and democracy. As the only world superpower they repudiated the restrictions of “old world ” international law, multilateral alliances and diplomacy because they detracted from the effectiveness of their unilateral policies. Never mind that they were going against what had been practically created and sustained by the United States since the II World War.
Without realizing it they were reliving Cold War attitudes and strategies that no longer applied to the new world. They were surprised to realize that their imposing military forces, structured for Cold War threats, were ineffective for “asymmetrical” ethnic and religious conflicts, atomic weapons proliferation, failed states and their terrorist sequels. Overwhelming military solutions, apposite a Manichean view of the world, were not suited for the nuances of the complex economic, social and political consequences of globalization, dynamized by the technological revolution of communications and information.
This new emerging and globalized world has surprised them with its stunning economic development and its political awakening. Every corner of the world, no matter how remote or backward, is trying to break out in every dimension and catch up with the Western world. Modernization, however, entails the distortion of their traditional social and political structures and this has triggered cultural and identity backlashes of unusual violence against the West.
The nation trusted their leadership although it did not quite understand their ideology. An increasing debate is questioning the legitimacy of unilateral preemption, its failure and uncertain future, as well as the apparent “imperialism” of the “unitary executive” and the powers demanded by a “war president”. The unlimited cost in blood and treasure cannot be justified by “Wilsonianism in boots”.The nation is beginning to realize it has been led into a foreign conundrum by the ideology of a small and non representative elite. Ye shall know them by their fruits. The “old world” institutions and procedures are not after all so old fashioned.
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And maybe the failure of the world’s (allegedly) sole superpower in imposing its will upon a subservient(?) international order finally heralds exposure of the moral and functional bankruptcy of the realist viewpoint – Waltz will no doubt have a rational explanation for this unexpected turn of events!
For me this outcome is symbolic of a more profound (and longer term) change in the international order; the increasing irrelevance of the sovereign Nation State as the exclusive unit of socio-political organisation.
Maybe more people will now begin to perceive the European Union as a quite natural response to this changing world order; in a more uncertain and unpredictable future, there is safety in numbers after all.
However for Europeans, the benefits flowing from economies of scale should not overwhelm the quite natural desire to retain those aspects of our existence that we hold most dear; cultural diversity.
Does this mean the European Union needs another way, another perspective discarding the orthodox Europe of Nations geo-political template? I think it does but at present it seems as though I am in a minority of one!
Comment by Peter Davidson — August 12, 2007 @ 2:30 pm