18 - 24 October 2001
Issue No.556
|
Al-Ahram Weekly Online 18 - 24 October 2001 Issue No.556 |
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
American or global
The US is now facing a dilemma: should it seek to Americanise the world further, or let itself be globalised? The latter would entail major shifts in self-definition and foreign policy; it would require adjusting to the rest of the world. The former would entail no extra effort, although Washington would have to deal with the increasingly dire consequences of its actions.
America influences the world, yet seeks only its narrowly defined self-interest, and -- in the process of imposing homogeneity -- wipes out the identities of others. If it were to uphold its own founding principles (individual freedom and ethnic harmony), it would have to reconsider its approach. This a contradiction inherent in Americanising the world.
To become truly global, America must alter its position on Jerusalem, Iraq, global warming and landmines, among many other issues. Perhaps it will resort to reason, as it has in the past. Then the two extremes, Americanisation and globalisation, can be bridged; the two planets the world has been divided into may, in this way, become one.
An irrational "war on terrorism" is likely to have dire consequences for all, not least due to the ambiguity of the "terrorism" in question, which allows Israel, for example, to practice state terrorism. On 11 September, a non-Americanised and indelibly global group of terrorists dealt America an unprecedented blow. If indeed they cause it to abandon Americanisation and embrace true globalisation, the attacks will rank with the American Civil War and Pearl Harbor in magnitude and moment. If not, they may be the first in a string of disasters with unwelcome long- term implications for the world.
* This week's Soapbox speaker is professor of political science at Helwan University.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
Recommend this page