My comments on "American Imperialism" weren't meant as a commentary on cultural diffusion.
Why are people in China learning English but people in the US not learning Chinese? When I was in France, nearly everyone spoke English. Why? Not counting those who were born in India, UK, Australia and other countries that have English as their primary language. They have their own reasons, of course. Leaders of many countries in the world conduct interviews in English. Why? People all over the world used to learn French. It was considered the "international language". What changed? [After English colonialisn, of course].
My grandparents came to America from Italy in 1921. Why? Many people in the last century, the world over, have viewed America as the land of opportunity. My grandparents did.
America marketed itself well. Maybe we are seeing a fallout from that now. Maybe with the fall of the USSR people don't have "sides" to choose from. Maybe this is just a bump in the road. We don't know.
What I meant by "American Imperialism" though is the shaping of a region of the world by economic or military means. The replacing of the Taliban with the Karzai government. The removal of Saddam from power. Kuwait permitting the US to base there for a military operation [would have never happened in 1978]. America is practicing imperialism without colonialism. She wields her military power to reshape the global political landscape. Why is the US so involved in the "Middle East peace process". This is the imperialism I was talking about.
Of course, many Americans see this as a good thing. Altering the environment to her benefit. Many people elsewhere see it as bullying. I think both points of view are completely correct. I think most every country attempts to influence the world to it's benefit and does so roughly in proportion to it's power in the world. Power may be militaristic, economic [related], standing in the UN [France derives power from it's veto], which side you choose in military conflicts and many other things. It cannot be ignored that military strength is a decisively important factor in the relationship between nations. The five countries with veto power in the UN Security Council are declared nuclear states. Chance? No way.
Military might is a fundamental variable in the political relationship between nations. At the start of this current war France, Germany, and Belgium had a meeting to discuss some sort of possible military alliance to balance American power.
I see JR's point and agree and have always regarding the "greatness of nations" flaw. People find the best think about their nation and think of it's strength in terms of those qualities. A good example is the frequent French dismissal of America as a "Land without culture".
Military and economic power are much more fundamental in the world power struggle though - and there certainly is one - than how nice one's beaches are.
In the past decade America's military power has headed to new heights and the opposing Soviet power has shrunk. How will the balance of power in the world shift as a result? New alliances, new militarization, anti-Americanism leading to decreased propagation of McDonald's and Coca Cola?
Ands everything turns, turns, turns, turns.
Last edited by Colin at Apr 5 2003, 12:28 PM
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