Martin Wolf had a fantastic column today in FT laying out what the 2008 presidential election means for the world at large. You should certainly read the whole piece but Mr. Wolf correctly takes the position that this election will greatly influence the world's development in the next quarter century. The piece certainly reads like an implicit endorsement of Sen. Obama. Wolf is prescient in saying thatthe right approach for today's complex world is not that of those who see agreement and appeasement as synonyms. The choice seems clear. It will shape our era.
In a world where everyone seems to have embraced market capitalism, the great challenge for the next administration is "managing the shifting global power balance." Both Fukuyama and Wolf are correct in understanding that a hegemon continues to exert influence and maintain control not through direct use of force but through coercion and eventual consent of the "commons".
Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran doesn't seem like the slogan of a leader who understands how to use such a subtle type of force. Like Mr. Wolf, I won't name names but you can read this the way I read him.
(Image by M. Thompson)
No comments:
Post a Comment