“In Washington, new thinking about a new world is sorely lacking. It is easy to criticize the Bush administration for its arrogance and unilateralism, which have handicapped America abroad. But the problem is not confined to Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, or the Republicans, even though they have become the party of chest-thumping machismo, proud to be despised abroad. Listen to some Democrats in Washington, and you hear a weaker unilateralism- on trade, labor standards, and various pet human rights issues. On terrorism, both parties continue to speak in languages entirely designed for a domestic audience with no concern for the poisonous effect it has everywhere else. American politicians constantly and promiscuously demand, label, sanction, and condemn whole countries for myriad failings. Over the last fifteen years, the United States has placed sanctions on half of the world’s population. We are the only country in the world to issue annual report cards on every other country’s behavior. Washington, D.C. has become a bubble, smug and out of touch with the world outside.”
From “The Post-American World” by Fareed Zakaria
HKO comments-
While the Republicans have espoused a jingoistic military and foreign policy, the Democrats have applied the same principle to trade and human rights. Both are destructive. This is why Obama’s rants against free trade on the campaign trail bothered me so. I hope it will be just another unfulfilled campaign promise.
Recent Comments