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by Judy Mitchell, W A M M
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Power, Terror, Peace and War: America’s Grand Strategy in a World at Risk
by Walter Russell Mead
Walter Russell Mead is the Henry A. Kissinger senior fellow in United States foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. Certainly a book authored by him would not normally be a WAMM book club pick, but since he is regarded by many as one of the most original foreign policy minds on America’s role in the world, I suggested the book for November. I was interested to read his perspective.
Three of the topics that Mead writes about in his book are the American Project, the shift to a new type of capitalism and its consequences for foreign policy, and the American Revival. Mead advocates the American Project and mentions that it has shaped both America and world history over the last two centuries. The project’s lofty goal is “to protect our own domestic security while building a peaceful world order of democratic states linked by common values and sharing a common prosperity.” One of the U.S. powers brought into play in the American Project is that of a liberal hegemon maximizing consent and consultation with others but also not neglecting the need to set the agenda and determine the framework of debate—in other words, to be in control. This power is relatively invulnerable, says Mead, because the world’s people consent to it and consider it legitimate and inevitable. It is also, according to the author, not challenged because those buying into the relationship want to exploit whatever opportunities the system offers. Interesting…
Mead talks about the nature of the shift in capitalism over the last decade from “Fordism” with its regulation, income equality, state planning, and stability to “millennial capitalism,” a freewheeling form promoted by technological growth and international trade. As Fordism is collapsing, foreign policy is changing. The foreign policy changes under G.W. Bush are seen by Mead as following the American tradition, which has always emphasized “preventing hostile hegemonic powers from establishing themselves in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East; protecting the freedom of the seas and airs; and especially securing the safe and free passage of oil to the world’s markets.” Mead distances himself from the current administration’s conduct of foreign affairs, calling it “too choppy and uncertain, its ability to formulate and express its strategic direction too crude and unconvincing.” But he does not distance himself from specific actions, i.e., invading Iraq, threatening preemption as a tool against nuclear proliferation, and deemphasizing the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.
The current administration’s neoconservative version of Mead’s so-called “American Revival” has what is regarded by some as a noble end: the preservation and enhancement of the only power (the U.S.) capable of leading the world in a positive direction. Note, however, that this power is not to be checked by international law or the preference for working within international institutions. Mead says we need a more realistic version of the American Revival that does not expect problems to disappear if we use force. He believes the U.S. should develop new instruments of global governance, reforming and restructuring the United Nations and supplementing it with regional alliances. As part of this, he also believes it is important to make “millennial capitalism” appealing to the world by making access to capital available to the world’s poor.
In our book club discussion, Mead did not score any points. However, most in the group did think it was informative to know where he was coming from and what he was proposing. His take on the new capitalism was seen as “dangerous and naïve” by one member. Naomi Klein’s book, No Logo, was suggested as good follow-up reading material. Also suggested as follow-up reading: The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time by Antonia Juhasz.
No W A M M Book Club meeting in January
February W A M M Book Club Choice:
Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq by Stephen Kinzer. |
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Legislative Resources
This is a good source for following legislation in D.C. —FCNL (Friends Committee on National Legislation—Quaker lobbying group)!
Congress Bans Funding for Permanent Bases in Iraq
FCNL E-Newsletter
September 28, 2006
www.fcnl.org
Read this newsletter online.
from the FCNL website:
We seek a world free of war and the threat of war
We seek a society with equity and justice for all
We seek a community where every person’s potential may be fulfilled
We seek an earth restored.
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© 2006 Women Against Military Madness. All rights reserved.
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Complete December 2006 / January 2007 Index - click here
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