Fighting the Real Enemy
By
Lauren
Westfall
September
2007
Law44@uga.edu
?As
The Grand Alliance says, the United States
has become “too small to maintain its role as global governor.?While a Grand
Alliance is a feasible solution to this problem, there are hurdles to overcome
before the United States
would agree to join the alliance. One such hurdle is the visualization of China
as an enemy. The union of global democracies would contain China, as the Chinese are not
playing by the rules of the global market. If they continue to act out, the
global market can fall into disrepair. Yet if the United States relinquishes some of
its sovereignty and joins the alliance, the problem can be diminished. So, why
would America
not join the alliance? Americans enjoy their status as most powerful country in
the world. They do not realize that though America is still powerful, the
world has outgrown its reach and influence. Therefore, they do not see the
problems associated with not joining the alliance.
?/span>
China is fast becoming
an economic superpower, and the United
States does a great deal of business with
them. Many Americans who do not know any better would say, “Why should we be
worried about China??
At surface level, this is a credible question. Many nations in the world cannot
support themselves, and international institutions like the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank have to assist them in functioning. It hardly
seems like China
should be a concern when they appear to be blossoming economically, unlike
these other countries. Additionally, American businesses profit from Chinese
success, so on the outside it looks like China
is the last place the United
States should concern themselves with.
Not only does America not see China
as much of a threat, but also it perceives a much bigger threat in the Middle East. A recent rash of terrorist attacks against
the United States
has made Americans wary of Islam and terrorism. They see terrorism as the
biggest threat to their safety, and therefore the enemy that they want their
country to focus its energy on.
How can we
convince the American public that they should be more concerned with China?
It will be difficult. Terrorism is seen as an imminent problem because its
effects are more easily seen. The economic issues in China are not widely known, but the
effects of terrorism are more obvious. An average American feels vulnerable,
because at any given moment they believe they can be attacked, on their own
soil and without warning. Economic problems may not be so sudden, and so they
may consider them to be less concerning. To get around this, Americans need to
be able to see the value in fearing China also.
Islamic
fundamentalism is certainly an issue to be worried about, and The Grand Alliance proposes that the
democracies of the world pressure (in a non-militarized way) the Middle Eastern
countries that have not democratized to do so in order to curb terrorism. This
may not work, however, as democracy may have trouble succeeding in the region. The
authoritarian regimes that exist have little motivation to become a democracy.
Those in power control the oil, and therefore the economy in their state, so
they have little reason to open themselves up to public opinion or give up their
stronghold on the state. Any incentive that was provided to them to get them to
democratize would have to outweigh the benefits they get from having pretty
much absolute power. Short of military action, which would be more of a
hindrance than a help, one possible way to impose democracy in the Middle East could involve economic sanctions. It is
possible to hope for some uprising for democracy, but the rulers many times put
these down brutally. Some nations like Lebanon
and Egypt
have actually moved towards democracy, and even hold elections, but freedoms
are still routinely denied in the form of suppressed protests and regular
assassinations of political leaders.
Another key
element in helping the Middle East towards
democracy is secularizing. This would possibly be the hardest barrier to break
down. Humans identify themselves in different ways with regard to culture. For
most Americans, they are Americans first, Christians (or whatever religion)
second, and so on. However, many Middle Easterners may not identify with their
country as strongly as they do with their faith. Therefore, if their primary
focus is not the state, but religion, it becomes difficult to convince them to
do anything. Religion is not based on fact, but belief, and you cannot change beliefs
by force. Incentives provided by the international community may not have any
effect on the population, in regards to mobilizing them towards a call for
democracy or pressure on their leader, because they are more loyal to the
Muslim community as a whole. Democracy does little to affect their religious
beliefs, so why become a democracy? Further, it calls for separation of church
and state, and that would not sit well with many Muslims. In addition, many may
fear that democratization may bring with it Christianity that would attempt to
undermine Islam.
What can be done
to solve these problems of democratization and secularization? The Grand Alliance has it right when it
says that the Middle East needs to do these
things. Nevertheless, incentives to make them do so are few and far between
because they operate on different cultural standards. A better way to go about
this may be to form the Grand Alliance, and let strength in numbers do the
talking. A large alliance of democracies could withstand a broad nuclear attack
from terrorists, and the more countries in the alliance, the easier it will be
to recoup if that were to happen. Terrorism is so effective because it plays on
people’s vulnerability, but if the Grand Alliance were to stand up to terrorists
by not being so afraid of attacks since it could withstand them, that would
remove the only strength they have against us. Removing terrorist threats would
then help the Middle East move towards
democracy.
Not only would
dealing with the Middle East in this way help them, but it would also help the
acceptance of the Grand Alliance in America. Once Americans see that
the threat of terrorism has been reduced, they will need to focus their
attention on another enemy. This paves the way for the realization of China’s
danger. A simple way to do this is to present the effect China’s behavior has on the average
American. China
is not following the rules of the global market, and so they are hurting the
American middle class. Their refusal to keep equilibrium in the market will
create suffering for the many richer countries around the world. Any domestic
economic issues would collapse the world market because there are so many who
have invested a great deal in the Chinese market. The economy in China
is not transparent and they keep their currency at an unfair level, leading to
a hollow economy. This is problematic for America especially because it has
so many investments there. Such a collapse as mentioned before would infringe
upon the average American’s personal purse, thereby making China’s behavior a huge concern. If
Americans could be introduced to this idea, it would likely be accepted as
personal finances have a more immediate and believable effect on them than the
possibility that another terrorist attack would happen to them.
The Grand
Alliance is a good solution for the many threats that face the world. It could
help fight terrorism, contain China,
and stabilize the world market. However, one of the key ingredients of the
alliance is the participation of the United States. This participation
is unlikely, however, if it means that Americans have to give up their powerful
status and a little sovereignty. The only way they could be convinced to do so
is if they were provided with enough incentive to do so. Most Americans
perceive their safety as paramount, and so if fighting terrorism was presented
as a key component to being a member of the Grand Alliance, they might be persuaded
to join. Once they are in the Grand Alliance with other strong democracies, they
could realize whom they really should have been fighting against all along: China.
Basically, in order to get the United
States on board with fighting the real enemy
instead of Islam and terrorism, they need to be convinced to join the Grand
Alliance first. Once they join under the guise of fighting terrorism, they will
then see who the enemy truly is. They will see that the practices of the
Chinese government in keeping a closed economy that is on very shaky ground are
detrimental, not only to the United States, but to the entire global market.
Any instability could cause a collapse in China, which could then lead to a
world market collapse and quite possibly a depression. A global market that was
based on a combination of the American dollar, the Euro, and the Yen would be
much stronger, and would provide for a much healthier market.