Strange Days in US Diplomacy
Today's LATimes has two intesting stories on US foreign policy, Bush's Foreign Policy Shifting and U.S. May Take North Korea Issue to U.N.
The former is an LAT-esque recognition that they really can't argue with the concept of spreading freedom and democracy because those are liberal ideals. So they find some old-school, Bush-hating diplomats who come up with the most damning term they can come up with: "unrealistic."
I love it. It is elite, holier-than-thou U.S. arrogance at its best, ugly any way you look at it. It says, "We can't expect those browns and yellows to want democracy or freedom. We're so much more advanced. We shouldn't even try; let them wallow." What would they have us pursue if not the Bush Policy? Given that there's a war on terror going on, the only other options are duck and cover, never a popular position in the U.S., or the sort of U.S. policy that many on the left blamed for 9/11, where protecting our interests is seen as an approach that leads people to hate us and fly airplanes into our buildings.
Struggle with it, Left. It's fun to watch.
The North Korea story is interesting in a different light. Last October, our party line was to scoff at John Kerry when he suggested taking the NoKo issue to the U.N. "The U.N.?" we scoffed. "What could that corrupt, inept organization possibly do?" Bush pounded Kerry on this point in the debates, and I think it helped ice the foreign policy decision-making for voters; they liked Bush's position more.
Now Bush is threatening to put the whole mess firmly in soft, squishy lap of the U.N. Images of hand-washing by the McBeths and Pontius Pilate come to mind. With China and Russia having veto power over any action the U.N. might take, what could be accomplished?
Exactly. China, looking at itself cornered into a position where it would veto a resolution that might lead to NoKo nuclear disarmament, doesn't see that as a position "the nation of the 21st century" would like to be in. That opens the door for movement on Bush's parallel strategy, that is, forcing China to pick up the NoKo ball and do something with it. The White House has posed a big, visible threat to China, and offered a quiet back door that could lead to global praise.
Not bad for a cowboy.
The former is an LAT-esque recognition that they really can't argue with the concept of spreading freedom and democracy because those are liberal ideals. So they find some old-school, Bush-hating diplomats who come up with the most damning term they can come up with: "unrealistic."
I love it. It is elite, holier-than-thou U.S. arrogance at its best, ugly any way you look at it. It says, "We can't expect those browns and yellows to want democracy or freedom. We're so much more advanced. We shouldn't even try; let them wallow." What would they have us pursue if not the Bush Policy? Given that there's a war on terror going on, the only other options are duck and cover, never a popular position in the U.S., or the sort of U.S. policy that many on the left blamed for 9/11, where protecting our interests is seen as an approach that leads people to hate us and fly airplanes into our buildings.
Struggle with it, Left. It's fun to watch.
The North Korea story is interesting in a different light. Last October, our party line was to scoff at John Kerry when he suggested taking the NoKo issue to the U.N. "The U.N.?" we scoffed. "What could that corrupt, inept organization possibly do?" Bush pounded Kerry on this point in the debates, and I think it helped ice the foreign policy decision-making for voters; they liked Bush's position more.
Now Bush is threatening to put the whole mess firmly in soft, squishy lap of the U.N. Images of hand-washing by the McBeths and Pontius Pilate come to mind. With China and Russia having veto power over any action the U.N. might take, what could be accomplished?
Exactly. China, looking at itself cornered into a position where it would veto a resolution that might lead to NoKo nuclear disarmament, doesn't see that as a position "the nation of the 21st century" would like to be in. That opens the door for movement on Bush's parallel strategy, that is, forcing China to pick up the NoKo ball and do something with it. The White House has posed a big, visible threat to China, and offered a quiet back door that could lead to global praise.
Not bad for a cowboy.
posted by Laer at 10:39 AM
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