One such article on pages 111-116 of the July-August 2008 "Military Review" (http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/MilitaryReview/Archives/Military%20Review-200809010001-DOC.pdf)
is "The Sole Superpower in Decline: The Rise of a Multipolar World," by Shri Dilip Hiro. It was originally published in the Journal of the United Service Institution of India.
I have wanted for some time to ask candidates Obama and McCain their views on the assertion made in "Rebuilding America's Defenses," published in Sept. 2000 by the Project for the New American Century, that it is America's role to establish and maintain global economic, political and military pre-eminence.
Hiro addresses exactly that stance, and convincingly argues that it is irrelevant now ... events and the world have passed us by, largely because of energy economics and the politics they allow. The last two paragraphs of his paper sum it nicely:
When viewed globally and in the great stretch of history, the notion of American exceptionalism that drove the neo-conservatives to proclaim the
Project for the New American Century in the late 20th century—adopted so wholeheartedly by the Bush administration in this one—is nothing new. Other superpowers have been there before and they, too, have witnessed the loss of their prime position to rising powers.
No superpower in modern times has maintained its supremacy for more than several generations. And, however exceptional its leaders may have
thought themselves, the United States, already clearly past its zenith, has no chance of becoming an exception to this age-old pattern of history.
Now my question to McCain and Obama might be: Are you aware of what's been happening around us? tv
No comments:
Post a Comment