- 02 Dec 2017 11:44
#14867471
The problem with a unipolar world with only one hegemonic power is that that power happens to be the USA, a nation peculiarly unsuited by its history and its culture to be a hegemonic power. The only way that anarchy could have been prevented in the aftermath of the Cold War was if an explicitly and unashamedly imperialist nation were in charge. In the late 19th century, there was a unipolar world order with a single hegemonic power - the British Empire. That empire successfully created and maintained a globalised world order for almost a century - the 'Pax Britannica'. It was, in fact, the first wave of globalisation in history. But, under American leadership there will not be and there cannot be any 'Pax Americana'. The USA, after all, was founded on anti-imperialist ideas, and has always been intensely insular and inward-looking. That culture is ingrained in its people and in its ruling elites. America therefore cannot provide any coherent sort of moral or political leadership in the world. On the contrary, they obsessively stir up trouble by launching senseless invasions of regimes around the world which even try to maintain (a rather brutal) sort of order, from Saddam Hussein's Iraq to Muammar Gadaffi's Libya to Assad's Syria. And they are now itching to invade Iran, of all places. Given this dedication to smashing any attempt to impose local order on the part of the world's only hegemonic power, what else can we expect except increasing global anarchy?
Has anyone read this book?
It seem pretty prescient to me, since it was written a half year before 9/11.
The problem with a unipolar world with only one hegemonic power is that that power happens to be the USA, a nation peculiarly unsuited by its history and its culture to be a hegemonic power. The only way that anarchy could have been prevented in the aftermath of the Cold War was if an explicitly and unashamedly imperialist nation were in charge. In the late 19th century, there was a unipolar world order with a single hegemonic power - the British Empire. That empire successfully created and maintained a globalised world order for almost a century - the 'Pax Britannica'. It was, in fact, the first wave of globalisation in history. But, under American leadership there will not be and there cannot be any 'Pax Americana'. The USA, after all, was founded on anti-imperialist ideas, and has always been intensely insular and inward-looking. That culture is ingrained in its people and in its ruling elites. America therefore cannot provide any coherent sort of moral or political leadership in the world. On the contrary, they obsessively stir up trouble by launching senseless invasions of regimes around the world which even try to maintain (a rather brutal) sort of order, from Saddam Hussein's Iraq to Muammar Gadaffi's Libya to Assad's Syria. And they are now itching to invade Iran, of all places. Given this dedication to smashing any attempt to impose local order on the part of the world's only hegemonic power, what else can we expect except increasing global anarchy?
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Marx (Groucho)