08.16.07
America the Strong
In the final analysis, one cannot deny that America’s history in modern times has been a pretty amazing story. Coming from the humblest and most idealistic roots, she has risen to become a world power whose scope is nothing short of incomparable. This is not to say that none have tried. Comparisons have been drawn between the US and Rome, the British Empire, and many other great and powerful political empires throughout history. While all of these comparisons are apt, and there is much that America could learn from such lessons, none can adequately describe the scope of American influence in the world today.
To elaborate on this point, let us understand America as having established a legacy in every conceivable corner of the globe. America holds the reigns of the global Internet, has cultural and commercial entities in virtually every country regardless of their ideological bent, and, for better or worse, remains the single most formidable military power ever known. None of the great powers throughout history have wielded quite as much clout as the US, and none have possessed population so indisposed towards the level of global responsibility that America has.
With this in mind, I’m going to take a different tack towards my homeland and dispense with my typical criticisms. Let us argue for a moment that there is much desirable about having a largely democratic and free-market oriented country such as the United States as the final arbiter in world affairs. As I watch the US whittle away at the good will extended to her by many of her allies and enemies, as I watch her plunge herself into conflict after conflict, I cannot help but be reminded of the elements of power that America seems to have forgotten.
Every great power in history has been sustained by a single critical calculation. This is productive potential and military potential. One alone cannot ensure dominance without the other. In the Second World War, a German general was quoted as saying that the Americans didn’t fight with men – we fought with shells. Many of the most important engagements of that conflict were testaments to our nation’s ability to out-build our enemies and smash their war machines. Had we, for example, lost the Battle of Midway, would it have crippled our armed services in the Pacific? Hardly. While we might have lost some time in our advance, the construction of new ships and the training of fresh troops would have overcome the loss of those battle groups. In the end, Japan simply could not hold against the might of our industry. This factor made any incompetence shown by our military leadership tolerable and its brilliance undefeatable.
I am not suggesting a return to mercantilism. On the contrary, I am a staunch supporter of increased levels of multilateral globalization and the further integration of the international economy. But I am becoming increasingly concerned by the declining returns enjoyed by the average American. Despite the ongoing claims concerning rising wages, the truth is that there has been a steady stagnation and even decline of real wages for American workers over the course of the last twenty years. From the Marxist perspective, this movement of wealth away from the lower and middle classes should be expected. But the fact is that between those two factors that ensure “Great Power” status, one is economic productivity and wealth at home. If the level of wealth in your population is lower, a nation has a much harder time sustaining healthy development and growth rates.
This brings me to the second, related issue that affects the sustaining and development of American power: military strength. While our ability to wage conventional warfare may be unassailable, military strength is no longer as cut and dry as it may have been in the past. What military analysts refer to as asymmetric warfare has become commonplace and easier to do in an increasingly productive and industrialized world. The infrastructure of warfare has opened somewhat in recent years. Those groups that we refer to as “enemies” have locked us into conflicts over which traditional methods of warfare simply cannot prevail. How do you fight an enemy that will not surrender and will fight literally to the last man? How do you fight an enemy to whom every defeat signals a call to recruitment? Genocide?
Americans have the military capacity to simply eradicate all who stand before us. The weapons and technology exists to simply obliterate entire regions of the earth, and the United States’ current government’s proclivity towards unilateralism certainly could allow for actions from which the diplomatic fallout could be severe. Moreover, the capacity to wage this kind of asymmetric warfare can escalate far more easily than America’s ability to increase military pressure. In other words, we are now involved in a series of conflicts that allow no simple way out. What must be found then is a compromise. The United States must find a way to regenerate its image as a benevolent hegemon; one that doesn’t threaten the values and lives of the people that we claim to be protecting.
I believe that our twin problems must be, and can be solved together. Obviously, in a multipolar world, overwhelming military might doesn’t count for as much as it once did. The fact is, that we already have sizable possessions around the world. The names might change, but Rock n’ Roll and the dollar still reign supreme. Sitting in a bar in Osan, South Korea what I hear on the radio is American style pop music being sung in Korean; what I read in the paper is the responses of American statesmen to developing hostage crises in the Middle East. What I also see is a growing resentment to the overt and largely ineffective displays of American military power in all corners of the globe. Our men are flying from Japan to the Philippines in order arrest terrorists. Are we solving geopolitical problems or simply meddling? Most people see the latter.
What is needed is a concerted effort to increase America’s appearance of multilateralism. We need to work with our allies and make our enemies into friends. No government claims that its main goals are the destruction and oppression of its own people. We must hold them accountable to the standards of the societies over which they rule, and not attempt to overtly dominate them. The fact is that the benefits of increased contact and integration will win the battles for us. Like any good merchant, we simply need to offer our wares and let the people line up to buy.
But changing our national outlook and increasing pessimism begins at home. Our own people are suffering from a decrease in the quality of education and the sale of the American dream. We remain the wealthiest nation on earth, but a sizable proportion of our people are only barely subsisting on unacceptable wages and non-existent healthcare. America’s greatest age was one in which the distribution of wealth was far more equitable and everyone really was offered ever opportunity to succeed. We need a return to those policies – before corporate greed ruled our politics and handouts went to the needy and not to the wealthy in the vain hope that they would stimulate the economy. It is time for us to step back and really evaluate the direction our country is going. We are unique in history, but we do not defy analysis. If we aren’t careful, we are likely to find ourselves desperately overstretched, increasingly impoverished, and totally used up. It would be a disservice to the American people and the world if we allowed that to happen.