The Pentagon has asserted that American preponderance created and sustained the foundations for “a market-oriented zone of peace and prosperity encompassing two-thirds of the world economy.” But the problem with a giant zone of peace and prosperity is that it bites the hegemon that feeds it: by augmenting the wealth and power of multiple states, the United States spurs the relative decline of its own power even as it contributes to the absolute growth of its own (and the world’s) economy. Instead of pursuing “leadership,” these analysts argued, the U.S. would do better to accept and in fact encourage the emergence of a multipolar system of truly independent great powers, which would take care of their own and their regions’ security. Such arguments were barely considered.
Extract of an essay written by The Atlantic’s editor about a new perspective towards America’s foreign policy under Obama’s adminstration.
Todas as vezes que eu assisto vídeos do conflito no Oriente Médio entre Israel e Hamas, eu lembro de uma cena do seriado A Sete Palmos, especificamente aquela em que a mãe, desesperada com a morte precoce do marido, se joga sobre o caixão de seu esposo e começa a chorar copiosamente. Um dos filhos, mente aberta, viajante do mundo e desprendido das convenções sociais, afirma que o gesto é semelhante ao das mulheres sicilianas que choram a morte de seus entes queridos. Diz que aquilo é bonito e que as mulheres ocidentais privam-se de externalizar a dor que sentem pelas convenções sociais. Velam o corpo dos parentes em silêncio, absorvem o sofrimento.
