POSTSCRIPT: PERPETUAL WAR
2. THE REAL EXISTING NEW WORLD ORDER
In which Johnstone deliberately mixes different uses of the same word:
"Another irony is that the crusade against "nationalism" in Yugoslavia was led by the United States, which has no qualms about pursuing its own national interest with the clamorous support of a population whose flag-waving nationalism has no rival in contemporary Europe, or perhaps even in the world."
There is, I am sure, a distinction to be made between Fourth of July fireworks and cornball Stars-and-Stripes patriotism on the one hand, and a nationalism based on mythic blood-purity with religious connotations on the other. Pity Johnstone can't see it.
From there, she segues into a discussion of globalization as American hegemony in disguise, in that the supplanting of the traditional nation-state by international institutions such as the IMF and GATT are bound to be American-dominated and/or in sync with American interests. What she envisions, apparently, is a world in which the USA retains its sovereignty and everybody else loses theirs. Or, if not everybody else, then the "smaller nations" of the world. By which I doubt she means Luxembourg or Andorra; but most certainly means authoritarian, anti-Western holdouts such as Milosevic's Serbia. Once again, Johnstone puts the sovereignty of the state above the welfare of individuals.
We're deep in conspiracy land now--international finance is the primary tool by which imperialist America dismantles the sovereignty of other nations and eliminates rivals to the "New World Order" that she would like to believe has been at the forefront of American planning since George Bush Sr. made that phrase infamous. She would like very much for the reader to believe that is all part of some sinister, well-designed, masterfully implemented policy directed from the shadowy backrooms of the American Empire, out of sight of the clueless flag-waving hicks.
Unless, of course, it's time to rattle some sabers and kick some ass. Then it's time for the military to put some muscle behind this imperialist project--the subject of the next section of the book.
2 comments:
Dear Kirk,
I know this is off topic and I apologize in advance. Would you please be so kind to join our discussion about recent Greensboro verdicts? We have defense lawyer answering questions (scroll to comments):
http://srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.com/2007/04/more-arrests-of-serb-war-criminals-in.html
Please contribute, and thank you. Now I will post a separate comment about the article you published.
[Sorry if duplicate]
My opinion is that American patriotic nationalism does not threaten anybody's lives. For example, there is a growing population of Latinos (Mexicans) in the USA, and I don't see American's committing ethnic cleansing and genocide against those people. In fact, all American Muslims I spoke to told me they have more freedom in the United States than they had in their own countries (Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc). It is absolutely unfair to compare peaceful patriotism of American people with genocidal maddness of extreme nationalism in the Balkans.
When it comes to the issue of globalisation, there is absolutely no better way to deal with World economics and politics. We all live on this planet and therefore we are all one [global] community. Having said that, we need to exert influence upon each other for the purpose of peace and economic stability. If Mrs Johnstone knows a better way to change this world, then she is welcome to propose it. It's easy to criticize, but people like her are never part of solution - they are always part of the problem.
"Once again, Johnstone puts the sovereignty of the state above the welfare of individuals." - This is exactly what communists do. They put the welfare of the state over the welfare of people. For communist minds, state is more important than people (example: China). In the West, we place human freedoms on top, and the welfare of the state follows.
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