The Opportunity: America's Moment to Alter History's Course

The Opportunity: America's Moment to Alter History's Course Richard N. Haass Date: 31 May, 2005   —   $16.50   —   Book product page Rating:

I don't know what the heck is going on with the Republican Party, but they're completely schizophrenic. You read a foreign policy essay by Chuck Hagel or this book by Richard Haass and find yourself mostly agreeing with it - as if foreign policy is pretty bi-partisan these days. But then you look at the wacko-liberal, militant, justice and democracy spreading, foreign policy crusade executed by the Bush administration over the last four years, and you just scratch your head wondering what's gotten into the GOP.

Anyhow, "The Opportunity" is a solid, traditional, conservative foreign policy, updated and repackaged for the post-Cold War 21st century. Where the watchword of the last half-decade was 'containment', Haass' new idea is 'integration'. And frankly, it's basically the same policy pursued by President Clinton: embrace globalism, rethink sovereignty, and work with the international community to promote democracy, justice, prosperity, and law & order around the globe.

Probably the most uncomfortable suggestion Haass makes is that the notion of sovereignty needs to be updated to match the reality of an integrating world. He argues that "the world requires (and the United States would benefit from) a concept of state sovereignty that is less than absolute."

To be precise, it would benefit from a concept of state sovereignty that is contractual, one that recognizes the obligations and responsibilities as well as the rights of those who enjoy it. Such an approach to sovereignty would communicate to governments and their leaders that the rights and protections they associate with statehood are in fact conditional and that governments and leaders would forfeit some or, in extreme cases, all of these rights and protections if they acted in contravention of certain norms or rules. "Abuse it and lose it" would make for a good bumper sticker.

I think this is a great idea. It would have allowed President Bush to dispense with the fiction of WMD violations to depose Saddam Hussein, and it's relevant to North Korea as well. Because of that, though, it's going to face some tough opposition from countries like Russia, China, and India and Pakistan, who operate close to the edge, as well as from most Americans who just resent the idea that we have to play by the rules when we don't want to... Because we're America, dammit! But there is precedent for the concept. Countries give up a certain amount of sovereignty (totally outweighed by the benefits) when they join the WTO, for example

In the areas where I disagree with Haass, I only disagree by a matter of degree. For example, Haass shreds President Bush for unilaterally invading Iraq with a flimsy, ad hoc coalition (and explains that's the reason he held off releasing the book until after the election), then launches into an explanation of what constitutes legitimacy for military actions. Haass looks at legitimacy like an a la carte menu, with UN support at the top of the list, followed by NATO and the G8. If you still can't find a backer, try forming an ad hoc regional alliance made up of relevant countries, like the six-party forum dealing with North Korea.

I would have been fine with the idea if he'd stopped there, but Haass keeps going all the way down to flimsy, ad hoc coalitions, and then to pure unilateralism. Barring a real, direct, imminent threat, if you can't get backing from the first four sources of legitimacy, the problem is on your side, and you should stop and take a good hard look at why nobody else sees the threat you do.

But barring a couple clashes over degree, I'm really impressed with the ideas and the way they're presented. America needs a new foreign policy, and Haass' concept of integration provides a coherent framework and guiding principles for the course set by President Clinton, espoused by Democrats, and apparently endorsed by traditional conservative Republicans; a framework dictated by realism with a touch of idealism. Count me in.