a repost
SATURDAY, APRIL 7, 2018
Harry Targ
Alfred McCoy, In
the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of US Global Power, Haymarket
Books, 2017.
Rachel Bronson, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists wrote that “in 2017 we saw reckless language in the nuclear realm heat up already dangerous situations and re-learned that minimizing evidence-based assessments regarding climate and other global challenges does not lead to better public policies.”
In fact, the
distinguished team of researchers affiliated with the Bulletin who
regularly assess the danger of nuclear war declared that the probability of
nuclear war has increased over the last year. Using their “doomsday clock” as a
metaphor the dial was moved to two minutes to midnight; midnight signifying the
onset of nuclear war. This warning moves the clock one minute closer to
possible nuclear apocalypse than the prior several years. The scientists
believe that the danger of nuclear destruction and devastating climate disaster
is greater now than at any time since the early 1980s.
The context
for this grim prediction is well-reflected in a new book by University of
Wisconsin historian Alfred McCoy, In the Shadows of the American
Century. The author reviews the rise of the American empire since
the 1890s. He describes the twentieth century emergence of the US as the
hegemonic power in the international system based upon economic superiority and
overwhelming military power. He suggests, however, that this economic and
military dominance is being challenged today. US relative economic power is
declining. Participation in global wars has become a military quagmire. And
global resistance to imperialism is spreading.
Perhaps the
most critical challenge to the American empire, he suggests, is the rise of
China, particularly as an economic successor to US control of the global
political economy. He reviews data concerning Chinese domestic development
indicating that the country has emerged as the second largest world economy. In
addition, the Chinese have developed trade with every continent, invested
broadly everywhere, and established an Asian financial and trading system that
challenges the historic US presence in the region. Finally, China has expanded
transportation, trade, investment, and corporate ties with
Europe. In sum, the author makes a compelling case for the economic
rise of China and the relative decline of the United States in the global
economy. In economic terms the global system is changing from unipolarity to
multipolarity.
In reference
to the United States, McCoy draws a portrait of an empire in decline,
particularly in terms of relative economic competitiveness. In response to this
decline McCoy provides detailed information to suggest that the United States
has embarked on a program to expand militarily programs around the
globe and in outer space. This latest phase of militarism includes
preparing for cyber space war, occupying space (in parallel ways in which the
United States occupied land in the twentieth century), developing biometrics to
identify potential enemies, and increasing drone warfare capabilities. These
projects involve the creation of a whole panoply of weapons that exceed the
imagination of science fiction. In sum, therefore, the new militarism is
designed to forestall and overcome declining empire.
This book is
a must read for the peace movement because it indicates the dangerous world in
which we live and the increased probability of global destruction. It suggests
the need for a two-pronged response to the United States empire in decline.
First, peace activists must continue to oppose militarism in all its
forms--spending, fighting, and non-transparent interventions across the globe.
Second,
peace activists need to develop a public discourse that celebrates the
emergence of a multi-polar world, a world in which more countries can
participate in global policy-making. The alternative to an energized peace
movement could be, as the atomic scientists warn, a nuclear apocalypse.
