Mahbubani (2008) - The Case Against the West: America and Europe in the Asian Century Flashcards
Western reluctance to admit that the Asian Century has come
1) Clings to their privileged positions in international institutions in UNsecurity council, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, G-8
2) Can admit specific failures, eg Bush administration in Iraq, but not a structural deeper problem
3) Had the mindset that interventions can only lead to good - in reality, no country welcomes foreign invaders. Christian soldiers cannot invade, occupy or transform an Islamic society
4) Cannot see themselves as a fundamental source of the “dangerous” world they keep talking about, due to their “democratic” and “economically developed” institutions
Asian responsibility
-been strengthened by implementing Western principles
- Want to achieve what Europe and US did by replicating, not dominating
- West should consider this universalisation a triumph and welcome their competence of handing regional and global challenges
The Middle East Mess
Western policies harmful not only to those millions living there, but also its diaspora, whose hatred for the West only grows.
1) invasion in iraq (2003)
a. it is only legal to use force on
another country as a use of self-
defense. Must be legalized by UN
security council based on
internatioanl law, which UKand
US was denied. US still did it,
hence illegal and disrespectful
towards int. law, which they were
fundamental in building.
Complicating Israel-Palestine further
UShas always
- had a pro-Israel strangehold on US congress
- sent aid to Israel
- been avoidant of discussions around two-state solutions
Nuclear proliferation
The West, specifically the US, has been vocal and advocative in preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons, leading to the NPT
Invasion of Iraq
a. it is only legal to use force on another country as a use of self-defense. Must be legalised by UN
security council based on international law, which UKand
US was denied. US still did it, hence illegal and disrespectful towards int. law, which they were fundamental in building.
b. how can violators of an international law (US)also be their enforcers by calling out other states (eg Iran and North Korea) for not following UNsec council resolutions?
Nonproliferatian Treaty (NPT)
UN security council treaty dividing countries into Nuclear Haves and Nuclear Have-Nots. Ratifying that the five veto states of UN sec council (France, UK,US,Soviet Union and China) can hold nuclear weapons, but horizontal spread cannot occur. However, did not prevent vertical spread.
What went wrong with the NPT?
Soviet and US limited the proliferation of nuclear weapons to other countries, who trusted that the five countries reduced their arsenals. They did not.
1) US walked away first
2) NPT had no other constraints than the self-regulating of the sec. council, hence no sanctions enforced
3) Once one country has violated, others did too - US and Soviet built an insane amount of military power during cold war.
4) US lost moral authority to ask others to abide security council resolutions
5) Nuclear states ignored Israel’s nuclear weapon program, which delegitimised the NPT for muslim nations. When West sermonises threats of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, muslim world shrugs.
6) India and Pakistan (1998) began testing nuclear weapons, recieved sanctions from West, whcih revealed the double standards of the West, who broke the NPT without consequences.
When custodians of NPT became the prime violators, the treaty dies.
The existence, protection and alliances around nuclear weapons breed asymmetry and chronic global insecurity.
Irresponsible stakeholders - The stall of trade liberalisation
- global free trade and economic liberalisation was goal for West from 1950s onwards, visible in how global trade went from 7% to 30% of worlds GDP from 1940 to 2005.
- after the cold war (1991), this attitude changes as asian nations went from allies to competitors
- when Asia grows stronger, West sees themselves as losers and lose the drive to push for further trade liberalization
= no other country wants to take the lead for fear of being perceived as threatening/seeking global hegemony = trade talks are stalled
Great quotes
“But one cannot assume that a government that rules competently at home will be equally good at addressing challenges abroad”
“No great power forever sacrifices its larger national interests in favour of the interests of a smaller state”
“People accept inequality as long as some kind of safety net exists to help the dispossessed”
Global warming
1) Western failure to tackle the issue
2) Most scientific research is from USor Europe, yet most resistance from US government
3) The greenhouse effect stems from both current emissions but also an accumulation of emissions since the industrial revolution, in which Western nations should bear the greatest burden for their contribution (+ being way wealthier and having the resources to stop it anyways)
4) Western governments allowed citizens to believe that China and India are obstacles to the solutions
Challenges of the West - an overview
1) Middle East
2) Nuclear proliferation
3) Stalled trade liberalisation
4) Global Warming
These imply a systematic (unaddressed) problem.
Solutions to Western global dominance part 1
1) Outdated, Western organisations must forego in favour of broader representations
2) West must acknowledge that sharing power can serve its interests
3) Concept of domestic good governance can and should be applied to international community - democracy, rule of law, social justice as it is on paper into practice.
4) Democracy (equal stakeholders) should be the cornerstone of global society
Solutions to Western global dominance part 2
5) UN general assembly has global legitimacy and should be used to make critical decisions instead of UN security council
6) USmust begin abiding international law
7) Western “social justice” must become real. Welfare provisions were only used to prevent Marxist revolutions, and there is an illusion of justice stemming from aid.
8) Asia, where the West has failed with aid, domestic good governance has succedeed in their march to modernity, leading to a more stable world.
Skadabambam
rehab!
