Suchergebnisse

MILITARY FORCE HAS BECOME THE HALLMARK OF U.S. FOREIGN POLICY, IRONICALLY IN THE NAME OF ENFORCING A GLOBAL UTOPIA. SINCE THE END OF THE COLD WAR THERE WAS BEEN A RENEWED, INTENSIFIED--AND PERHAPS IRREVERSIBLE--MILITARIZATION OF U.S. FOREIGN POLICY. AMERICANS SEEM TO HAVE ADVANCED THE PROPOSITION THAT FORCE IS INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM POLITICS. PRESIDENT CLINTON HAS BECOME A MODEL OF A SUCCESSFUL COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. THIS ARTICLE ARGUES THAT HIS ACHIEVEMENT HAS BEEN AS EXTRAORDINARY AS IT HAS BEEN UNANTICIPATED. IT ALSO ARGUES THAT THE LEGACY OF THAT ACHIEVEMENT IS LIKELY TO BE PERNICIOUS.

IN 1945, THE US EMERGED FROM WWII PREPARED TO HELP SHAPE A NEW WORLD ORDER. A SMALL GROUP OF POLICYMAKERS GATHERED TO CREATE A STRATEGY THAT WOULD HELP GUIDE THE NEW SUPERPOWER. WHAT DEVELOPED, NSC-68, WAS A COMPREHENSIVE DOCUMENT THAT ENCOMPASSED THE ROOTS OF AMERICA'S CONTAINMENT POLICY AND WOULD PROVE TO BE THE BACKBONE OF US FOREIGN POLICY FOR DECADES TO COME. THE AUTHOR OF THIS ARTICLE OFFERS A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE DOCUMENT, AND QUESTIONS WHETHER GRAND STRATEGY IS A FLAWED APPROACH TO FOREIGN POLICYMAKING.

JOURNALISTS OFTEN DRAW AN ANALOGY BETWEEN THE STRATEGIC ASPECTS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENERGY IN THE CASPIAN REGION TODAY AND THE GREAT GAME OF 19TH-CENTURY COMPETITION BETWEEN BRITAIN AND RUSSIA FOR INFLUENCE OVER THIS REGION. ON CLOSE EXAMINATION, HOWEVER, THE PARALLELS BETWEEN THE CURRENT STRATEGIC POSITIONS IN THE CASPIAN AND THEIR 19TH-CENTURY COUNTERPARTS ARE EXTREMELY WEAK. THE GREAT GAME WAS PLAYED OUT BETWEEN TWO NATIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF A COMPLETE POWER VACUUM WITHIN THE REGION. TODAY, THE NUMBER OF EXTERNAL PLAYERS IS LARGE, THEIR AIMS ARE FAR MORE COMPLEX THAN THE IMPERATIVES OF THE GREAT GAME, AND THERE IS NO LONGER SUCH A CONVENIENT VACUUM FOR THE EXTERNAL PLAYERS TO FIGHT OVER. MOREOVER, CASPIAN ENERGY IS MUCH LESS IMPORTANT THAN MANY POLITICAL ANALYSES HAVE IMPLIED.

Argues that US discourse on the People's Republic of China reflects the myth that entrepreneurial individualism & democratic communitarianism are mutually reinforcing. The odd political alliances generated by policies with China, during & since the Cold War, are detailed. It is contended that the 1989 massacre of prodemocracy activists in Tiananmen Square & the subsequent coexistence of tremendous economic growth & harsh political repression devastated US belief in market economics necessarily leading to democracy. Because of this & recognition that China is not Marxist, US positions have realigned. The new policy debate over China (including Taiwan) is waged among a Left & Right establishment & populism, with the establishment & US business interests mostly winning. It is concluded that China is too large & diverse to be easily contained in US discourse, & the country will probably develop differently by region, both politically & economically. E. Blackwell

MULTI-DIMENSIONAL UN HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTIONS INVOLVING ELEMENTS OF ENFORCEMENT ARE LIKELY TO BE THE RULE IN THE FUTURE. FOR HUMANITARIAN AID, THE UN DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM WOULD RECRUIT PERSONNEL FROM THE EXISTING AGENCIES DIRECTLY INTO A NEW COMBINED MILITARY AND CIVIL UN SECRETARIATE. FOR THE MILITARY, UNIFIED COMMAND CAN ONLY BE OBTAINED WITH WITH UN-SANCTIONED, SUB-CONTRACTED OPERATIONS UNDER CHAPTER VIII.