Ah...The Humanity!
I've developed a thirst for discovering what the rest of the world really thinks about the United States. Fortunately, the internet makes that discovery process a whole lot easier than it used to be. One great gateway into this process is Watching America which presents a survey of world journals with both an English translation (sometimes edited)of the article and the original article itself.
I discovered this article from l'Humanite on Watching America's site and was fascinated.
It's a fact that since the attacks in 2001, flexibility in Washington doesn't exist. After the terrorist catastrophe there was no "return to normal," and for Ghassam Salamé [citation] this lack of return to normality is problematic for the world's biggest power. Since it suffered the terrorist earthquake, America has imposed its national preferences on others through globalization. It has embarked on a neo-imperial project with unprecedented military resources. In 2004, the [U.S.] military budget reached nearly $416 billion, 6.5 times that of Russia ($65 billion) or nine times that of France. And the risk of a split with Europe is being cemented.
As John Ikenberry said, American neoconservatives have become theoreticians of "hegemonic stability," totally "obsessed by the material sources of power." There is thus no place for "the role of ideas, standards and institutions," which could create unnecessary doubt. It is time for totally reexamined relationships of force, even within the country [the United States]: the "President" prevails over the "deliberating organs," the military over "the other instruments of influence," and the Pentagon over "the other government departments."
Like the world, American democracy is suffering.
That analysis is pretty damning, especially since it appears to be right on the mark. The article goes further, however, and points explicitly at what has arisen since the 9/11 attacks.
But the Americans are not solely responsible for their malady. For Ghassam Salamé and Moses Naïm, the American malady is the result of a "toxic combination" of circumstances and a "permissive environment," in which the following have come together: "compliant secret services," Democrats afraid to look like traitors, "Republicans who follow blindly," not to mention "servile diplomats," "complicit journalists" and "docile foreigners!" It's hardly surprising that the century has become perniciously "Wilsonian" and that the United States reigns alone over the common domains of airspace, sea and digital technology. In fact, if Rosen is to be believed, "NATO, ANZUS and the treaty with Japan are not alliances between equals but security guarantees granted by the imperial power to its subordinates." The allies have become "clients" who buy their collective security from the United States.
If this analysis is an accurate one, and I have reason to believe it is, given the developments within the US since 9/11, those of us who believe the direction we are heading in is the wrong one will certainly have our work cut out for us. We will have to literally unseat almost the entire Congress and the current Administration. We will somehow have to push the corporate media to start doing their jobs properly. And we will have to demonstrate to the rest of the world that we have begun removing the log from our own eyes.
We have no other choice. In the words of a fool under different circumstances, "Bring it on!"
I discovered this article from l'Humanite on Watching America's site and was fascinated.
It's a fact that since the attacks in 2001, flexibility in Washington doesn't exist. After the terrorist catastrophe there was no "return to normal," and for Ghassam Salamé [citation] this lack of return to normality is problematic for the world's biggest power. Since it suffered the terrorist earthquake, America has imposed its national preferences on others through globalization. It has embarked on a neo-imperial project with unprecedented military resources. In 2004, the [U.S.] military budget reached nearly $416 billion, 6.5 times that of Russia ($65 billion) or nine times that of France. And the risk of a split with Europe is being cemented.
As John Ikenberry said, American neoconservatives have become theoreticians of "hegemonic stability," totally "obsessed by the material sources of power." There is thus no place for "the role of ideas, standards and institutions," which could create unnecessary doubt. It is time for totally reexamined relationships of force, even within the country [the United States]: the "President" prevails over the "deliberating organs," the military over "the other instruments of influence," and the Pentagon over "the other government departments."
Like the world, American democracy is suffering.
That analysis is pretty damning, especially since it appears to be right on the mark. The article goes further, however, and points explicitly at what has arisen since the 9/11 attacks.
But the Americans are not solely responsible for their malady. For Ghassam Salamé and Moses Naïm, the American malady is the result of a "toxic combination" of circumstances and a "permissive environment," in which the following have come together: "compliant secret services," Democrats afraid to look like traitors, "Republicans who follow blindly," not to mention "servile diplomats," "complicit journalists" and "docile foreigners!" It's hardly surprising that the century has become perniciously "Wilsonian" and that the United States reigns alone over the common domains of airspace, sea and digital technology. In fact, if Rosen is to be believed, "NATO, ANZUS and the treaty with Japan are not alliances between equals but security guarantees granted by the imperial power to its subordinates." The allies have become "clients" who buy their collective security from the United States.
If this analysis is an accurate one, and I have reason to believe it is, given the developments within the US since 9/11, those of us who believe the direction we are heading in is the wrong one will certainly have our work cut out for us. We will have to literally unseat almost the entire Congress and the current Administration. We will somehow have to push the corporate media to start doing their jobs properly. And we will have to demonstrate to the rest of the world that we have begun removing the log from our own eyes.
We have no other choice. In the words of a fool under different circumstances, "Bring it on!"
posted by Diane at 11:13 AM
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