A BRILLIANT ESSAY ON THE U.S. AND AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY<\/b><\/p>\n
The author is noted historian Eric Bergerud who posted this on the H-Diplo Listserv in response to criticism from a Japanese historian regarding Bush administration foreign policy. <\/p>\n
” I think Sashi Akuniyo expresses the perception of many in the industrial
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world that distrust American foreign policy. I also think that the ideas
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proposed by Akuniyo are based on some dubious assumptions and actually
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illustrate why the U.S. and much of the industrial world are so widely
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divided and are likely to remain so.<\/p>\n
Akuniyo describes American policy as “paranoia-based.” Perhaps the future
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will validate this description. Most Americans, however, to one degree or
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another agree with Bush’s assumption that the U.S. is engaged in a war with
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clandestine groups and a small number of “rogue states.” The major fear is
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that these two might get together and deliver a devestating strike on the
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United States.<\/p>\n
Is this paranoia? In the past twenty years hundreds of American servicemen,
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diplomats, agents, businessmen, tourists and bystanders have been killed or
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maimed by the forces of what Christopher Hitchins so accurately calls
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“theocratic fascism.” In the past decade there has been a serious attempt to
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bring this violence directly to U.S. The attacks of 9\/11 were preceeded by
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an earlier bombing of the World Trade Center. American agents confinscated a
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van filled with explosives crossing the Canadian border prior to New Years
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2000. And to sweeten the mood in the U.S., North Korea has recently
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suggested that it might export atomic weapons.<\/p>\n
Other nations in the industrial world can hope that conventional
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deterrence and better police work can prevent or greatly limit further
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terrorist catastrophes. Washington must look at the situation differently
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because American leaders believe that if deterrence fails it will be the
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citizens of an American city that will pay the price. This perception
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makes “risk assessment” a much more complex enterprise in Washington than
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in, say, Brussels.<\/p>\n
Akuniyo also argues that Americans should have “an intelligent loyalty to
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the same moral code that states expect their own citizens to live by.” With
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all due respect this exactly what American citizens do not want. In the
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pursuit of terrorist groups, most Americans fully support the Bush
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administration’s policy of “gloves off.” In practice this means a massive
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and expensive clandestine operation headed by CIA in collaboration (often
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through bribes) with any government that wants to help out. We have
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assassinated small numbers of bin Laden’s group and no doubt would kill more
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given the chance. The police powers of the FBI and others have been
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increased in the U.S., and American police agencies previously discouraged
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from working abroad now do so very openly. Civil libertarians in America may
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complain bitterly about all of this (perhaps with reason), but these actions
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appear to be broadly supported by the American population. The blows
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seemingly given to bin Laden’s operations in the past year are viewed as a
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vindication of this approach. Now, if one views the U.S. as in a war, the
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government’s response is understandable, even laudable. If the struggle
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against terror is viewed as an exercise in normal diplomacy then America,
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not bin Laden (or Kim Jong Il) is the threat to world peace.<\/p>\n
We must also consider the wars fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. The first
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received more governmental support than the second, but was fiercely
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opposed by “progressives” throughout the West. (This fact has been
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conveniently forgotten by many when the Taliban fell with so little
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effort.) Recent hostilities in Iraq found the U.S. nearly isolated in the
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world public. I have recently argued that it is far too early to judge the
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impact of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. However, although the violence
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of that war was far less than many of its opponents predicted, and the
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fall of Saddam appears to be little mourned in Iraq (regardless of how
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Iraqis view the U.S.), the moral ambiguities inherent in war were well
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illustrated. Akuniyo notes that “It is understandable and obvious why the
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leader\/ general\/ soldier\/ industrialist don’t want to live by any code –
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particularly ones that could hang them tomorrow for what they do today.”
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In general I suppose this is true. It certainly explains why no American
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Senate is going to ratify the ICC. There are already attempts in Belgium
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to indict Rumsfeld, Franks and others. The Pentagon believes that the
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“higher moral standards that are naturally emerging in a connected world”,
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observed by Akuniyo, and embraced by many in the industrial world, cannot
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be made to suit a fierce world.<\/p>\n
It seems to me that many citizens of the industrial world would like the
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U.S. to be the friendly cop on the block that will do nothing unless called
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upon to redress some obvious wrong that the remainder of the industrial
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world is too weak to deal with. Have trouble with “ethnic cleansing” in the
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middle of Europe? Call Washington. If North Korea begins to act the thug,
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nations in the region know that American forces are there to keep things
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from getting out of hand. In other words, American power is useful if it
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accords with the interests of other nations. If Washington dares to employ
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its power in what it perceives to be self-defense, and by doing so raises
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risks to other countries, then the U.S. is viewed as “power-drunk.”<\/p>\n
I do hope that America’s opponents in the democratic world have no illusions
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about some great change of perception taking place inside the U.S. Even
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Bush’s opponents on Iraq fully support the “war” against terrorism. The
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prestige of U.S. military is sky high and will stay there. The sense of
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threat against the American homeland will remain for a very long time.
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Another major attack within America will cause a furious reaction.<\/p>\n
There are obvious ways to deal with this problem. If the world is genuinely
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evolving toward a golden age of universal morality, I would strongly urge
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nations now affiliated with America to end their security associations with
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Washington. If the peoples of Belgium, or France, genuinely think the U.S.
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is a threat to world peace, then NATO should be abolished. If North Korea
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(or China) is no threat to Japan, then end the defense treaty with the U.S.
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Or, if countries are not so sure that military power has lost all utility,
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and if these same nations view America as “immature and selfish” in its
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exercise of power, then perhaps these nations should create an independent
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ability to project military power. The industrial world outside the U.S.
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certainly has the wealth and technology to match fully the Pentagon’s
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arsenal in a very short time. All that is lacking is the will. Then perhaps
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other, more enlightened governments, can determine how to fit liberal values
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and an increasingly expansive interpretation of international law with the
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brutal reality of modern war. ”<\/p>\n
Eric Bergerud <\/b><\/p>\n
Hear ! Hear ! I could not have said it better.
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