Out of the ashes of destruction in the wake of World War Two rose two world superpowers that would alter the course of human history. The United States and the USSR, flushed with victory over the Axis powers, turned on each other and began to assert their influence over every corner of the globe. The resulting "cold war" plunged humanity into 50 years of darkness where it was possible, thanks to advances in weapon's technology, that any given day could have been the our last. Never before had there been such a disparity in power between those at the top and those at the bottom. All of history's greatest empires, from Macedonia and Alexander the Great, to Rome, France, and the British colonial empire paled in comparision to the military, economic, and ideological might that America and the Soviet Union possessed.
Following the fall of the USSR in the early 1990's, America became the World's only superpower. The world changed from a bipolar world to a multipolar one, but American foreign policy remained stagnant. Just like an old coach who stupidly refuses to change his sports team's tactics when facing a new situation, America refused to re-examine it's new place in the world. Stuck in selfish "us first" mode, America took the tactics that successfully one the cold war and tried to use them in the new world order of the 21st century. Unsurprisingly these bull headed efforts failed.
America is finally beginning to realize that its power, while great, is not enough to solve the global challenges that our world faces. Terrorism, economic recession, environmental degradation, human rights abuses are all problems that need to be addressed. The US can not do it alone. International Relations scholars have correctly theorized that America must make its dominance, soft and acceptable or risk international backlash. History shows that might nations do not last forever. Even Rome, the 1000 year old empire, eventually fell pray to internal weakness and corruption and outside mass migrations.
What must America do to avoid such a fate? It must reverse its selfish unilateralist foreign policies and instead embrace a culture of cooperation with other nations. Under Bush, America was unafraid to go it alone. The Iraq war was launched without the permission of the United Nations Security Council and was basically an illegal occupation. Countries around the world saw this blatant disregard for international law and state sovereignty and are taking note. American power hurt us bu pushing people away, making them resent American power and interests. This encouraged states like North Korea and Iran to develop weapons programs thait could not be ignored by American leaders. These they intend to use for intimidation, leverage in negotiations and if necessary in self defense. After all America sent a very clear message in 2003 that it is unafraid to wage unjust wars in order to accomplish its goals.
Unilateralism is akin to the bully of the playground. He can walk around and pick on the little kids for only so long before everyone is tired of his arrogance. Eventually the smaller kids form alliances and the bully finds himself outnumbered and surrounded on all sides by enemies. America must stop this reckless and arrogant behavior before the rest of the world decides that enough is enough. Pentagon analysts recently wrote a report that China is drastically increasing their military capabilities by investing in attack subs, cyber warfare, and research and development of aircraft carriers. Add to that the fact that they have a population of over a billion people (outnumbering America more than 3 to 1) and currently own a large section of the American economy and we have a reason to be concerned.
I'm not saying that war with China is inevitiable, or even likely. But countries are taking notice. Russia is beginning to make more noise about its own ambitions in eastern Europe, China wants Taiwan, and the European Union is tired of being called America's kid brother. Conflict could come if we don't tread very carefully. America must look at the long term. Not only is it morally right to cooperate with other nations to serve common interests, but it will restore America's image as the benevolent protector of freedom and democracy, a label that America lost when it decided it could act alone without the consent of the international community. If problems like the economy and the war on terror are to be solved, it will require everyone's cooperation. America can't do it alone. Obama seems to realize this and is taking steps to rebuild America's alliances. Let's hope that this multilateral trend continues.
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