DEL.ICIO.USThe world is no longer ours to command
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Chinese are getting just what they wanted from their Olympics. And I’m not talking about medals — though they seem to be in for their share of gold. I mean prestige, status, respect.
China’s Communist government pushed to host the Summer Olympic Games because its leaders were intent on showing the world that the country is no longer a backwater to be ignored — or patronized — by world powers. With a stunning (if slightly fake) Opening Ceremony that marched viewers through centuries of its history, China announced its resurgence.
And while the Chinese were flexing their muscle through public relations mastery, the Russians were doing the same using a more traditional tool: military might. As the West enjoyed its traditional lazy August, with its journalists focused largely on the Olympics, Russia moved to remind the United States that it won’t tolerate any more mucking about in its neighborhood. A small country called Georgia, with a U.S.-educated president who seems to see himself as the second coming of Lech Walesa, sent in troops to try to reassert control over pro-Russian breakaway enclaves. But Russia responded with tanks and troops of its own.
Let’s hope Americans who still believe we can bend the world to our will are paying attention. The Chinese glitter and the Russian guns of August should have reinforced a lesson: Even if the United States remains the world’s lone superpower, it is a significantly diminished one, first among near-equals. We no longer stand astride the globe. Our bluff and bluster aren’t as frightening as we might think.
After President Bush managed to tear himself away from the fun of the Beijing Games, where he hammed it up with volleyball babes in bikinis, he took the podium in the Rose Garden to insist that Russia back down. His threats were ignored by Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, who told Georgians they can forget about getting South Ossetia and Abkhazia back. Barely a day later, the Bush administration was forced to admit that the U.S. is not about to confront Russia militarily in Georgia’s defense.
(By the way, where is the outrage over John McCain’s behaving as if he, not Bush, is president? McCain’s initial statement in response to the conflict was more aggressive than that delivered by Bush; McCain has also announced he is sending his own “advisers” to Georgia. Where does he get off interfering in a foreign policy crisis? Conservatives ripped Obama for daring to give a speech in a foreign country. That was so “presumptuous.” But McCain steps over all sorts of boundaries and that’s OK?)
The world is changing. Russia is newly reinvigorated by its energy riches, both petroleum and natural gas. China has become such an economic powerhouse that it owns much of our debt. Other nations, including India, South Korea, Brazil and Malaysia, are elbowing their way onto the world stage. So U.S. influence was bound to wane sooner or later.
But the arrogant militarism of Bush and his neo-con cronies wasted the soft power we had at our disposal. Before the invasion of Iraq, much of the world saw the U.S. as a giant that used its power for good, focusing on human rights, diplomatic engagement with enemies and the uplift of destitute regions of the world. While a few Muslims abroad delighted in the attacks of 9/11, most of the world mourned with us — and supported our attack on the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Now, America’s motives are often questioned and our methods criticized. After Guantanamo and water-boarding and extraordinary renditions (i.e., kidnappings), our reputation is in tatters. We are hardly regarded as the “shining city on a hill” of which Ronald Reagan spoke.
Can we restore our reputation? With hard work, renewed diplomacy and respect for the views of others, not to mention respect for our own principles, we can. But we will not be an unchallenged superpower again. Those days are over. We’ll be strong and influential, but our authority will derive more from the power of our example — a nation that respects human rights and believes in equal justice under the law — than from brute force. Much of the world is hungry to see that America return. Much of America is, too.
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