I was talking to my son, Morgan, this evening, who is a second generation hippie leftist, and he made a salient point. America may not be the great satan, but we have the power to be, if we so choose. And that is what many people in Europe, and even here in the U.S., and elsewhere, are freaked out about. We have the power, and we have a not completely unblemished record, e.g., Pinochet, Saddam Hussein, the fascists in Guatemala, and other scumbags that we supported in the “cold” war. So it is not utterly irrational to be somewhat paranoid about America’s current hyperpower hegemony.
Whether or not we are on the side of all that is good in Afghanistan and Iraq, the fact that we are in a position to be on whatever side we want and there is precious little anybody else in the world can do about it, is an occasion that must give pause to any thinking person in the world who is subject to America’s whims, which is basically everybody. I have a great faith in America’s history, destiny, and intentions, but I must admit that it is understandable that there are people in the world, perhaps most people in the world, who do not share that faith. America is a Christian nation, but it is also a religion of its own, the revolution, that is only beginning to play out, and all people everywhere have a stake, but not much say, in how we go about it.
So, while we can’t ever surrender to corrupt bureaucracies like the U.N and the government of France, we do need to develop a foreign policy style that does its best to alleviate the inevitable fear that our overwhelming power engenders. And we must constantly guard against the hubris that comes with such power. This is where the liberal voice has a role, to which I sincerely hope they, we, are able to rise.