The Post-Cold War Debate : The Search For A New Role

The Post-Cold War Debate : The Search For A New Role

Introduction :

In the aftermath of the cold war, the US experienced dramatic changes in global politics. Indeed in 1989 the wall separating East and West Berlin as the symbol of the Cold War dismantled and the Soviet Union collapsed afterwards by 1991, which led to an urgent need for a total reorganization in the US ‘ foreign policy and the establishment of new strategies in Europe.
Indeed the Communist Threat was the glue that held the US system together. For years the power and privilege of the US military and the national security were directly linked to the Soviet threat. It was the Cold war that fed the interests of the military industrial complex and justified the US foreign military bases interventions in the Third World and Europe. It also used to diffuse tensions in the society between the haves and have-nots by focusing the attention on a common enemy. For all these reason the demise of the Americas greatest foe left the US without a foreign policy purpose to replace that of containing the communist expansion.

The 3 approaches that dominated the debate on the US new role in the world :

Neo-isolationism :  Isolationists have consistently argued that overseas commitments can force the United States into actions best avoided, and that institutions such as the United Nations undermine American sovereignty. They contend that excessive attention to events in other countries both distracts from important domestic priorities and needlessly involves the country in costly enterprises bearing little relation to the national interest. 

Realism (Hegemony) : the realists maintain that the US should assume a more active role in the world affairs. The collapse of Communism shows the success of the American values . As the lone remaining super power the US has an exceptional opportunity to promote its interests and free market-capitalism overseas. They also assert that the American hegemony is the only defense against the breakdown of peace and international order therefore the US must preserve that hegemony as far in the future as possible.

                           

           

Internationalism or Multilateralism : Internationalists, by contrast, favor an active role for the country in world affairs, including strong support for international institutions and a generally interventionist approach to problems in other countries. Many internationalists believe that America has a responsibility to participate in world affairs because of its unusual capacity to favorably alter global conditions. Other internationalists maintain that America simply cannot turn its back on a world in which it has become so deeply networked.