Posted on 01/19/2009 7:12:19 AM PST by EternalVigilance
As the new U.S. administration prepares to take office amid grave financial and international crises, it may seem counterintuitive to argue that the very unsettled nature of the international system generates a unique opportunity for creative diplomacy.
That opportunity involves a seeming contradiction. On one level, the financial collapse represents a major blow to the standing of the United States. While American political judgments have often proved controversial, the American prescription for a world financial order has generally been unchallenged. Now disillusionment with the United States' management of it is widespread.
At the same time, the magnitude of the debacle makes it impossible for the rest of the world to shelter any longer behind American predominance or American failings.
Every country will have to reassess its own contribution to the prevailing crisis. Each will seek to make itself independent, to the greatest possible degree, of the conditions that produced the collapse; at the same time, each will be obliged to face the reality that its dilemmas can be mastered only by common action.
Even the most affluent countries will confront shrinking resources. Each will have to redefine its national priorities. An international order will emerge if a system of compatible priorities comes into being. It will fragment disastrously if the various priorities cannot be reconciled.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
Kissinger made his reputation by writing about Metternich and how Europe was reconfigured after the fall of Napoleon. The world had been dominated by a single power and when that power fell, the world had to be put into balance between a number of competing states. Metternich did this brilliantly in the early 19th century. Kissinger wrote about this brilliantly in the mid 20th century.
So, during the Cold War, Kissinger was very involved in the balance between the US and the USSR. Well, the USSR fell, which left the world largely dominated by a single power. In Kissinger's mind, this may be a bad thing. I think Henry is far too comfortable with the idea that the US must lose its central place and that other players in the world will rise up to positions of power-sharing.
Wow. Thanks for posting this.
I think you’re probably right.
And I think his views are shared by many, if not most, of our “elites.”
God help us.
I don’t know how this one slipped past FReepers for a full week. One of our people posted it earlier at AIPNEWS.com, and I was amazed when I looked at the publishing date.
Here it comes!
Krock of Krap from Dr. K
When Rome was dominant for several centuries, the world had peace (PAX ROMANA). Of course it required Rome crushing any rebellion and enemies. But had there not been a dominant state the world would have been a more violent and unhappy place to live in.
What is it with all the Zombies these days? I know Henry Kissinger died when I was in college in the 80’s!
LOL!
If President Obama can rise to this challenge, he is a benevolent genius. Let's pray that he is and that he will.
But Henry, what if the guys at the top think and act like the Paulsons and Madoffs of the world? What's to prevent that? What's the guarantee that they will be held accountable?
ping
How this thug still gets taken seriously boggles my mind
Heck he’s got a warrant to be arrested as a war criminal in France for his dealings with Pinochet and some other of the crazy SOBs in Latin America.
Except for the fact that included in his vision is the destruction of America's sovereignty and strength.
So, no, I don't think I'll be praying for that.
I agree.
Das Reichstag brennt!
Kissinger has always been a New Worlder. This “crisis” gives him and his fellow travelers a platform.
You got it.
He's probably correct also that stability and a good outcome rest on the U.S. and China and the best hope for a happy outcome will be some kind of cooperation between the two.
It is also probably true that a new global reorganization can emerge, an order that can bring peace, justice, and prosperity to the people of the world--i.e. the American Dream.
On the other hand, we could be on the precipice of a Dark Age.
The good news is that the world does not seem to be erupting into war--and that contemporary means of communication allow unprecedented possibilities for diplomacy and cooperation.
Unfortunately, the situation is of such vast scope and magnitude and the variables so innumerable--as Kissinger's vagueness reveals--that it challenges human comprehension and control.
A joyful outcome is possible--i.e. from the chaos can emerge the American Dream--but it will challenge the resources of the people of the world and their leaders, and it will require the grace of God, luck, and a truthfully informed population.
A mendacious newsmedia serving as a political propaganda machine, such as the U.S. "mainstream newsmedia", will not help. Fortunately--as least for now--the people of the U.S. and of the world have "alternative" sources of information, such as the internet and uncensored radio, to keep them informed.
We must pray. We must remain informed. And we must insist on truth and benevolence, especially from ourselves.
One thing's certain: The entire world is undergoing enormous change. The situation is dangerous. And there's nothing we can do about that.
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