Danny ChaiFareed Zakaria wrote the cover story for Newsweek this week. About why the world hates America. Required reading as far as i’m concerned.
He said something very true a few weeks ago. The UN actions about Iraq weren’t really about Iraq, on which, at least fundamentally, most countries are in agreement. What it was really about is the U.S. The world is afraid of the U.S. His story says something interesting, how other countries have faced terrorism before. But when it hit the U.S. on 9/11, it saw an almost unimaginable response. The world was required to change its priorities. That kind of power must be awing.
I dunno, it’s just a really interesting article. Anyway, he said something else a few weeks ago that really resonated with me also. A lot of people say the U.S. should be able to do whatever it wants. But the truth is, the U.S. really can do whatever it wants. It would benefit everyone to recognize that. Like he writes about France and Germany, “They have split Europe, weakened NATO and diminished the Security Council – all to prevent action against Saddam Hussein. A world with fewer rules and restraints is one in which America will do just fine. It is the rest of the world that benefits most from these institutions.”
And he says of the U.S, that the Bush administration has been “eager to prove that is has freedom of action. But it’s obvious that Washington has total freedom. That’s why it would be wiser not to mention it every few days. When your power is so obvious and overwhelming, you need to show no that you can act along but that you want to act with others.” I dunno, I think he’s right.