|
Terrible Twins: Turkey, Brazil and the Future of American Foreign Policy
President Obama is going to have to use power to get his way rather than relying on sweet reason and the power of his ideals. He's going to have to persuade countries that going along with the United States is better than defying us, and to do that he's going to have to think about how to make people pay when they make the wrong choice. Otherwise his great ideals will not come to fruition. He can kiss non-proliferation goodbye, for starters, if he can't stop Iran from getting the bomb.Sounds a lot like the Chicago Way. He should start treating our opponents like Republicans instead of potential donk drones. None of this means that America is losing its power in the world, but it does mean the end of the dream that our immediate goal is the abolition of foreign policy and the society of states. We are not going to replace the Westphalian order with the Parliament of Man anytime soon. Instead, foreign policy is going to be about warding off threats, dealing with opponents, building coalitions and advancing our commercial interests where we can. Globalization and democracy aren't (thank goodness) going away, but neither will they make our problems disappear. Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2010-06-06 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=298363 |