DATE=5/21/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-43473
TITLE=U-S HEGEMONY
BYLINE= ED WARNER
DATELINE= WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: UNILATERALISM OR MULTILATERALISM? SHOULD THE UNITED
STATES ACT ALONE OR IN CONCERT WITH OTHER NATIONS? IS THE UNITED
STATES RISKING ISOLATION IN ITS CONTINUED BOMBING OF SERBIA?
THESE QUESTIONS WERE DEBATED AT A RECENT WASHINGTON CONFERENCE
(5/21), WHERE SPEAKERS PONDERED THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ONLY
REMAINING SUPERPOWER. V-O-A'S ED WARNER REPORTS ON THE
DISCUSSION.
TEXT: THE UNITED STATES, IT IS SAID, EXERCISES HEGEMONY OVER
MUCH OF THE WORLD. BUT IS THAT GOOD OR BAD?
PARTICIPANTS IN A RECENT CONFERENCE AT THE CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR
INTERNATIONAL PEACE OFFERED SHARPLY DIFFERENT ANSWERS. ROBERT
KAGAN, WHO WRITES EXTENSIVELY ON FOREIGN POLICY, SAID THE UNITED
STATES MUST IGNORE INTERNATIONAL OPINION WHEN THE OCCASION CALLS
FOR IT. HE BELIEVES THAT IS THE CASE WITH THE BOMBING OF SERBIA:
/// KAGAN ACT ///
AT THE END OF THE DAY, THE BEST HOPE FOR ADVANCING A
LIBERAL INTERNATIONAL ORDER RESTS ON THE POWER THAT IS
MOST DEVOTED TO IT, WHICH REQUIRES, I AM AFRAID, FOR
THOSE WHO FIND THIS PROBLEMATIC, MORE EXERCISE OF
AMERICAN POWER, NOT LESS. AND THAT IS MY CASE FOR
AMERICAN HEGEMONY -- THE FACT OF BEING THE MOST
INFLUENTIAL POWER IN THE WORLD.
/// END ACT ///
MR. KAGAN SAYS A HEGEMONIC POWER INEVITABLY DRAWS CRITICISM, NO
MATTER HOW COOPERATIVE IT IS, AND THE UNITED STATES MUST BEAR THE
BURDEN OF LEADERSHIP.
DANIEL FISK, A FORMER COUNSEL OF THE U-S SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS
COMMITTEE, SAID THE UNITED STATES DID NOT SEEK HEGEMONY OR EVEN
WANT IT. CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE LED TO AMERICAN PRIMACY:
/// FISK ACT ///
WITHOUT AMERICAN LEADERSHIP, THERE WOULD BE A VOID.
OTHER STATES WITH SIGNIFICANT CAPABILITIES -- BE THEY
MILITARY, ECONOMIC, DIPLOMATIC OR POLITICAL -- TOO
FREQUENTLY ARE UNWILLING OR TOO IRRESPONSIBLE TO ENGAGE
OR LEAD ON ISSUES BEYOND SIMPLY THE PURSUIT OF THEIR OWN
NATIONAL INTERESTS.
/// END ACT ///
BUT U-S HEGEMONY RECOGNIZES NO LIMITS, ARGUED CHARLES WILLIAM
MAYNES, PRESIDENT OF THE EURASIA FOUNDATION, WHICH PROMOTES
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION.
HE SAYS PROPONENTS OF UNILATERAL ACTION, WHETHER OF THE POLITICAL
RIGHT OR LEFT, WANT TO USE MILITARY FORCE REGARDLESS OF OTHER
NATIONS' OBJECTIONS. FROM HIS OWN TRAVELS, MR. MAYNES CITED
GROWING GRASS-ROOTS ANIMOSITY TOWARD AMERICA, IN RUSSIA AND
ELSEWHERE. YET HE NOTES THAT NATO, UNDER U-S DIRECTION, EVEN
TALKS ABOUT INTERVENING IN THE CAUCASUS, ON RUSSIA'S DOORSTEP:
/// MAYNES ACT ///
THE REST OF THE WORLD WANTS AMERICAN ENGAGEMENT,
AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP AND EVEN AMERICAN LEADERSHIP. IT
DOES NOT WANT AMERICAN DIRECTION. WE HAVE TO FACE THE
FACT THAT NO NATION IN HISTORY HAS BEEN ABLE TO
MAINTAIN A HEGEMONIC POSITION WITHOUT A DEGREE OF
RUTHLESSNESS IN ITS INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THAT IS
TOTALLY ALIEN TO THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY.
/// END ACT ///
MR. MAYNES SAYS AMERICA IS A COUNTRY WITH IMPERIAL CAPABILITIES,
(BUT) WITHOUT AN IMPERIAL MIND. IN HIS VIEW, AMERICANS WILL DRAW
THE LINE AT OVERSEAS MILITARY INVOLVEMENT, EVEN IF THEIR LEADERS
DO NOT. (SIGNED)
NEB/EW/WTW
21-May-99 7:18 PM EDT (2318 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
