New world order: bullying

CHASING DOWN THE MUSE

Stand with me for a few moments on the bright side of the moon, and

look back at earth.

From a great enough distance, the borders between countries cannot

be seen, and politics, war and disease do not exist. From a great

enough distance, we are simply passengers on a beautiful blue planet,

spinning in orbit around a glowing sun. From a distance, we are all

the same, Homo sapiens inhabiting the planet earth.

I’m romantic enough to believe that each of us should spend more

time appreciating our humanity “from that distance,” and rational

enough to know that as we move closer to the surface, we’ve created

quite a murky mess. Hunger sprouts in all corners, in all countries.

Disease does not know barbed-wire borders, and the politics of

territory have once again, reached epidemic proportions.

As a species, we have populated the bulk of easily arable land,

and established outposts on all outlying shores. We continue to

expand in numbers, broadening our presence and our physiological

needs: i.e., water, energy, fuel and food. In the course of our

increasing scramble for resources, we have fought war after war,

exchanged borders for behaviors carved out by treaties, broken those

treaties, and fought yet more battles.

History has awarded the spoils of war to whomsoever was able to

reign victorious. In human beings, the victor has been the country

with the biggest arsenal of weapons and the skills to deploy and

utilize them. Enter the United States of America, 2003.

If anyone has any doubts as to which is the “baddest” kid on the

block, you’ve been asleep for the past six months. The United States

has bullied, threatened and disenfran- chised our allies. We have

dismissed the pleas of the global citizenry for peaceful resolutions

in Middle East as childish, uninformed and uneducated. We have taken

unilateral action, invaded a sovereign country and now threaten an

entire region with our might. I say we, because as a citizen of the

United States, I am not without participation, which greatly saddens

me.

I wonder what our founding fathers would think of their “grand

experiment?”

The surprise of the Iraqi war was the speed with which the

President pressed forward, using justifications which most of the

world considered flimsy. Evidence to support his invasion have not

been forthcoming, and, as it turns out, the war was not so much about

Iraq, as it was to gain a military and economic foothold within the

region. As it turns out, the administration has long had a plan for

the expansion of American presence, and finally seized upon an

opportunity to begin implementation. This plan is broadly outlined in

“Rebuilding America’s Defenses,” as published by the Project for the

New American Century in September 2000. The plan calls for the United

States to assume the role of global peacekeeper, ignoring allies if

necessary, to achieve the goal of an American style of democracy

across the globe. With an increased arsenal to support our goals,

including new and improved nuclear weapons, who is there to challenge

us? Except, ultimately, everyone.

As a child, I remember fearing the Soviet Union and her nuclear

bombs. Now, if I were a child in an outlying country, I suppose I

would begin to fear America.

Secretary of State, Colin Powell, stated on his recent appearance

on Meet the Press, “Democracy is not an easy system.” What he didn’t

say is that democracy, as a military function, is difficult to

control, because as a concept, it is defined as the will of the

people. Military incursions are not democratic. Generals command

downward and the agenda of the day is obedience to orders.

Democracies include the brightest and the least bright, with

ostensibly, an equal voice. The two concepts are quite diametrically

opposed.

We are no longer exporting goods and services. We are placing

ourselves in the position to force feed our ideology upon a world

held hostage by our arms. As President Bush said before his invasion,

“If you’re not with us, you’re against us.” I may be alone in

thinking we are in a more dangerous position than when we confronted

the Soviets, but I don’t think the outcome will be as forgiving. The

short-term goal of negotiations at gun-point will yield short term

results, but how many cultures can we successfully bully? And what

really, is the ultimate cost?

* CATHARINE COOPER can be reached at ccooper@cooperdesign.net.