Arab Spring, Western Fall

Shlomo Ben-Ami
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2011-07-01

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Arab Spring, Western Fall

TEL AV V ! The old "ocation o# $hat %ud&ard 'ipling called the (White )an*s +urden, ! the dri"ing idea behind the West*s -uest #or global hegemon& #rom the da&s o# imperial e.pansion in the nineteenth centur& to the current, patheticall& inconclusi"e, Lib&an inter"ention ! has clearl& run out o# steam/ 0oliticall& and economicall& e.hausted, and attenti"e to electorates clamoring #or a shi#t o# priorities to urgent domestic concerns, Europe and America are no longer "er& capable o# imposing their "alues and interests through costl& militar& inter"entions in #ara$a& lands/ 1S Secretar& o# 2e#ense %obert 3ates $as stating the ob"ious $hen he recentl& lambasted 4AT5*s European members #or their luke$arm response to the alliance*s missions, and #or their poor militar& capabilities/ 6Ten $eeks into the #ighting in Lib&a, the Europeans $ere alread& running out o# munitions/7 8e $arned that i# Europe*s attitude to 4AT5 did not change, the Alliance $ould degenerate into (collecti"e militar& irrele"ance/, Europe*s reluctance to participate in militar& endea"ors should not come as a re"elation/ The 5ld 9ontinent has been immersed since World War in a (post:historical, discourse that rules out the use o# #orce as a $a& to resol"e con#licts, let alone to bring about regime change/ And no$ it is engaged in a #ate#ul struggle to secure the "er& e.istence and "iabilit& o# the European 1nion/ As a result, Europe is retreating into a narro$ regional outlook ! and assuming that America $ill carr& the burden o# ma;or global issues/

+ut America itsel# is reconsidering its priorities/ These are tr&ing economic times #or the 1S, largel& o$ing to imperial o"erstretch #inanced b& 9hinese credit/ Admiral )ike )ullen, the 1S 9hairman o# the <oint 9hie#s o# Sta##, recentl& de#ined America*s colossal #iscal de#icits as the biggest threat to its national securit&/ ndeed, at a time o# pain#ul budget cuts ! the 1S is #acing a =>? trillion short#all on public pensions and health care in the coming decades ! the 1S can no longer be e.pected to maintain its current le"el o# global militar& engagement/ +ut the #iscal crisis is not the $hole stor&/ The dire lessons o# the $ars in ra- and A#ghanistan $ill shape #uture debate about America*s international role in the t$ent&:#irst centur&/ At an address in Februar& to cadets at the 1S )ilitar& Academ& at West 0oint, 3ates said that (an& #uture de#ense secretar& $ho ad"ises the president to send a big American land arm& into Asia or into the )iddle East or A#rica should ha"e his head e.amined/, 3ates*s recent statements are b& no means those o# a lonel& isolationist in an other$ise inter"entionist America/ 8e e.pressed a $idel& percei"ed imperati"e #or strategic reassessment/ n @ABC, in a landmark article, (The Sources o# So"iet 9onduct,, $hich he signed as (D,, 3eorge 'ennan de#ined America*s #oreign:polic& strateg& #or the 9old War as one o# containment and deterrence/ t is di##icult to imagine a more marked departure #rom 'ennan*s concepts than a report recentl& released b& the 0entagon ! A National Strategic Narrative ! authored b& t$o acti"e:dut& militar& o##icers $ho signed as (E/, The report can be dismissed as ;ust the musings o# t$o senior members o# the <oint 9hie#s o# Sta## $riting in their (personal capacit&/, +ut its real po$er stems #rom the degree to $hich it re#lects America*s mood in an era o# declining global in#luence and diminishing e.pectations regarding the rele"ance o# militar& po$er to sustaining 1S global hegemon&/ <ust as 'ennan*s (D, article $as #ull& re#lecti"e o# the mood in America at the time, so the Narrative e.presses the current American Zeitgeist/ Thus, the idea that (E, might turn out to be a latter:da& (D, ! de#ining the nature o# America*s international role in the t$ent&:#irst centur& ! ma& not be #ar:#etched/ 9onspicuousl&, there is much in the Narrative that coincides $ith Europe*s emphasis on so#t po$er/ The authors call #or a shi#t #rom outdated 9old War strategies o# (po$er and control, to one o# ci"ic engagement and sustainable prosperit&/ Securit&, the& maintain, means more than de#ense/ t means engagement $hereb& America should not seek (to bull&, intimidate, ca;ole, or persuade others to accept our uni-ue "alues or to share our national ob;ecti"es/, America, (E, argues, must #irst put its o$n house in order i# it is to reco"er credible global in#luence as a beacon o# prosperit& and ;ustice/ This $ould re-uire impro"ing America*s diplomatic capabilities, as $ell as regaining international competiti"eness through greater in"estment in education and in#rastructure at home/ The message emanating no$ #rom the 1S is not one o# non:inter"entionism, but a strateg& o# restraint that assumes that there are limits to American po$er and seeks to minimiFe the risk o# entanglement in #oreign con#licts/ As 3ates put it in his West 0oint address, the 1S Arm&

$ould no longer be (a Victorian nation:building constabular& designed to chase guerrillas, build schools, or sip tea/, The bad ne$s is that Europe*s #eebleness and America*s #atigue might also signal the limits o# noble ideas such as the obligation to inter#ere in order to protect populations being brutaliFed b& their o$n rulers/ America*s reluctance to be dra$n into the Lib&an -uagmire, and the West*s #ailure to inter"ene in order to stop the S&rian arm& #rom massacring ci"ilians, no$ looks like a sad, and #airl& accurate, guide to the #uture/ Shlomo Ben Ami, a former Israeli foreign minister who now serves as the vice-president of the Toledo International Centre for Peace, is the author of Scars of War, Wounds of Peace the Israeli-Arab Tragedy.