Suchergebnisse

UNTIL RECENT DECADES, GOVERNORS SEEKING TO PROVIDE INNOVATIVE LEADERSHIP OFTEN DID SO DESPITE BEING HANDICAPPED BY INADEQUATE INSTITUTIONAL POWERS, LEAVING THEM TO THEIR OWN PERSONAL SKILLS. RECENT REFORMS HAVE NOW PROVIDED MANY GOVERNORS WITH GREATER INSTITUTIONAL POWERS, INCLUDING MORE TENURE POTENTIAL, ENHANCEMENT OF THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE, A STRONGER BUDGET CAPACITY, AND THE RISE OF POLICY AND PLANNING OFFICES LOCATED IN OR CLOSE TO THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE. MOST IMPORTANT, GOVERNORS ARE MORE AGGRESSIVE IN SEEKING ANSWERS TO POLICY ISSUES BOTH WITHIN THEIR OWN STATES AND IN COLLABORATION WITH OTHER GOVERNORS. THE NATIONAL GOVERNORS' ASSOCIATION HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO ASSIST GOVERNORS IN DEALING WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND WITH STATE PROBLEMS. RECENT NGA EFFORTS IN THE AREAS OF EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MAY PRESAGE AN EVEN MORE SIGNIFICANT CHANGE AS GOVERNORS ADDRESS MAJOR ISSUES JOINTLY.

THE QUESTION AS TO WHO SHOULD GOVERN HONG KONG AFTER 1997 IS CENTRAL TO THE TALKS. ITS COROLLARY IS HOW HONG KONG WILL BE GOVERNED. MRS THATCHER'S DELIBERATE USE OF THE WORDS 'BRITISH LINK' INSTEAD OF 'BRITISH PRESENCE' SUGGESTS THAT, AS WELL AS CONCEDING SOVEREIGNTY, BRITAIN PROBABLY ALSO SIGNALLED ITS WILLINGNESS TO PLAY A REDUCED ROLE IN HONG KONG IF IT COULD SECURE CONDITIONS ENSURING THE COLONY'S STABILITY AND PROSPERITY UNDER A SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT YET TO BE DETERMINED.

THIS ESSAY IS MEANT TO HELP PREPARE A CONFRONTATION WITH THE PHILOSOPHER WHO IS THE MOST PENETRATING AND THOROUGHGOING OPPONENT OF LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC CIVILIZATION.* NIETZSCHE CHARACTERIZES THE MODERN DEMOCRATIC SPIRIT, IN ALL ITS FORMS, AS "DECADENCE." THIS DECADENCE HE UNDERSTANDS, HOWEVER, AS THE FINAL, CATASTROPHIC EMERGENCE INTO BROAD DAYLIGHT OF A PREVIOUSLY HIDDEN HISTORICAL PROCESS WHICH HAS BEEN UNFOLDING IN ALL WESTERN HISTORY: THE "NIHILISM" OF ATHENS AND JERUSALEM, OF SCIENTIFIC RATIONALISM AND JUDEO-CHRISTIAN MONOTHEISM. NIETZSCHE UNDERSTANDS HIMSELF AS THE THINKER THROUGH WHOM THIS PROCESS FINALLY ATTAINS SELFCONSCIOUSNESS. NOW BY BIETZSCHE'S OWN TESTIMONY, THUS SPOKE ZARATHUSTRA IS THE PUBLISHED WRITING IN WHCIH HIS MATURE PHILOSOPHY FINDS ITS FULLEST EXPRESSION.1 YET ZARATHUSTRA, BECAUSE IT COMPRISES THE "YES-SAYING PART" OF NIETZSCHE'S PROJECT, BECAUUSE IN IT "THE EYE IS SPOILED BY THE TREMENDOUS NEED FOR SEEING FAR," POSSESSES A "REMOTENESS" THAT MAKES IT THE MOST DIFFICULT TO APPROACH OF ALL HIS FINISHED WORKS (CF. EH, P. 1141).2 IT SEEMS TO PRESUPPOSE, RATHER THAN SUPPLY, AN ACCOUNT OF HOW NIETZSCHE UNDERSTANDS THE CULTURAL CRISIS TO WHICH ZARATHUSTRA IS RESPONDING. MY PURPOSE HERE IS TO ATTEMPT TO GATHER FROM NIETZSCHE'S DIVERSE PRONOUNCEMENTS A SYNOPTIC, CONSISTENT STATEMENT OF HIS CRITIQUE OF THE WEST.

IT WILL NOT BE THE FIRST TIME THAT POSITIVE MOVES IN FOREIGN POLICY HAVE DEPENDED ON THE CAPACITY OF CONSERVATIVES TO SWITCH (NIXON & CHINA). REAGAN'S COMMITMENT TO THE ALLIANCE IS UNQUESTIONED; THE SWITCH WILL APPEAR IF HE JETTISONS SOME OF HIS HEAVY IDEOLOGICAL BAGGAGE TO FREE HIMSELF FOR MORE SENSIBLE POLICIES.

THE AUTHOR OFFERS A CRITIQUE OF THE STYLE AND PROCESS OF AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY, SUGGESTING THAT IT IS CHARACTERIZED BY "COLLECTIVE IRRESPONSIBILITY". HE DISCUSSES FOREIGN POLICY "SUBSTITUTES": THE MEDIA EVENT, POLITICAL RHETORIC, KISSINGER'S "THEATER", ETC., AND NOTES THE EXISTENCE OF TWO "FOREIGN POLICY CULTURES" IN THE US: THE EQUITY CULTURE AND THE SECURITY CULTURE. FUTURE PROSPECTS ALSO EXAMINED.