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Contributions from
the Column
Books and Media
Africa:An Honest Book
Muslim Societies:
Social Welfare Concepts
US-Foreign Policy:
America strikes back
Consumption endangers the planet
4/2004 |
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US-Foreign Policy:
America strikes back
The terror attacks of September 11, 2001 have changed the world. But have they also given rise to a new world order? Harald Müller answers with a clear "no". In the view of the Frankfurt peace and conflict researcher, it is mainly the USA's foreign policy that has changed in the wake of the outrage.
Since September 11, the only remaining superpower has begun to implement its vision of a unilateral world dominated by the United States forcefully. Unlike the White House under President Bill Clinton, the Bush Administration aims to lay down the rules of international politics on its own – without, however, being bound to them itself.
To demonstrate that, Müller’s arguments draw from the world before September 11 and the causes of the new international terrorism to the rediscovery of the nation state and new forms of intergovernmental cooperation in an ever more insecure world. At the centre of his very readable and fact-filled book is the reaction of the US to the new threat and the consequences ensuing from that for transatlantic relations. But Müller also takes a close look at the other relevant actors of international politics (Russia, China, India, etc.) – as interested collaborators, nervous vassals, resigned rivals or ‘rogue states’ of the new US politics.
Müller leaves no doubt that the Bush Administration's politics are leading to a dead-end street. He fears a de-democratisation of security policy and deprivation of the international system’s fundamental rights.
The USA’s new unilateralism ignores the deeper causes of violence in society, such as social hardship and a lack of prospects. That means the new US foreign policy trails far behind what our highly-networked world with its complex problems needs in terms of global governance structures. Unfortunately, in his portrayal of US foreign policy after September 11, Müller does not touch at all upon how this concept could come about and what its societal roots are.
For Müller, the alternative to the American concept, which banks solely on US military power, is the consistent further development of European political ideas. Their notion of a sustainable international order focuses on the role of civil societies and multilateral arragements.
But given the present balance of power in Washington, Müller rates the chance of realising such a system rather sceptically. He sets his hopes in the self-healing powers of the oldest democracy – and in a critical-constructive attitude by the Europeans to give this effective support.
Norbert Glaser
Harald Müller:
Amerika schlägt zurück. Die Weltordnung nach dem 11. September [America strikes back. The World Order after September 11].
Frankfurt, Fischer 2003, 288 pp., ¤ 12.90,
ISBN 3-596-15774-9
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