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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated

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To: Lane3 who wrote (26516)1/28/2004 1:22:00 AM
From: D. Long  Read Replies (1) of 793885
 
...what you get is the US declining to abrogate any of its autonomy while expecting other countries to do so. To me that is an arrogant, cavalier, and far from enlightened. It is in that context that I spoke of unilateralism--the unilateralist attitude, not an individual unilateral act when necessary.

Nonsense. What you get is the US declining to abrogate any of its autonomy, while expecting others to appreciate that America acting in its own self-interest has the "second-order effect" of furthering the greater good. It comes down to desiring others to recognize the United States as a benevolent force in the world. If you are a Rand fan, you can surely understand the argument that altruism is not the standard of good. Like capitalist economics, the self-interested actions of all parties benefits all.

If we're going to express US hegemony as the benevolent despot, we need to be a lot smarter than we are and a lot more diplomatic.

What you mean is, we need to blow smoke up people's asses. That isn't describing things as they are, it is being apologetic for our strength. Something Clinton did well. It isn't of much benefit when the chips are down.

Derek
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