At 04:19 PM 5/28/2003 -0700 d.brin wrote:
>Instead now we see an immature, triumphalist Pax Americana, almost
>deliberately spitting in the eyes of everybody in sight, driving
>Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Beijing and Teheran into each others' arms.
>
>Not subtle. Not far-seeing. Not wise.
Uhhh.... except we are *not* seeing that.
Moscow and Beijjing have shown no signs of cooperation, ever since Yeltsin
and Zemin signed a largely toothless declaration in the mid-90's. Since
then,cooperation has been hampered by the fact that Russia and China find
it nearly impossible to trust each other, especially with China having a
billion people bordering a vast, underpopulated, and resource-rich region
of Siberia. Nothing in the past year, since this Iraq debate started,
has really indicated a change in this dynamic whereby Russia and China are
growing closer together. Indeed, Bush will be visiting St. Petersburg
today precisely because Russia is making a concerted effort to repair
US-Russian relations following the conclusion of the war.
The same is true of Germany, which is currently campaigning hard to
*maintain* America's military bases within its territory and is also trying
to repair relations.
As for Beijing, they actually just began cooperating with us on trying to
reign in the DPRK.
I don't know why you seem to think that even the most silver-tongued
diplomat would have been able to succeed in persuading France, Russia, and
China to cooperate in bringing the Pax Americana to the 38 million people
of Iraq. Would you prefer that those 38 million people still live today
under the iron-fisted rule of Saddam Hussein? Quite simply, it is not in
China's interest, nor in Russia's or France's perceived interest to submit
to American leadership of a "Pax Americana", even if the Pax Americana was
ruled by King Solomon himself. It will always be much safer for them to
pursue a "multipolar" world where American power is limited.
JDG
_______________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world,
it is God's gift to humanity." - George W. Bush 1/29/03
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