Allies and opponents of US fall silent

Chris Burford cburford at gn.apc.org
Mon Dec 10 23:35:49 PST 2001


There seems to be a pall over these lists. I get the impression (of course others may strongly have quite a different impression) that leftists who grudgingly supported the attack on the Taliban in Afghanistan do not want to crow. Those who tried to delay or soften it, cannot see a way forward except to regroup against an attack on Iraq and against the state terror against the Palestinians. Meanwhile those marxists who see absolute opposition to US imperialism as a benchmark of political integrity cannot see how to articulate more than declaratory statements. There may be a feeling that after Sept 11 that international affairs will not be the same again, but the left has yet to be clear, how.

I would argue that a marxist reassessment must be based not just, and not mainly, on moral principles but on an analysis of the material balance of forces and the underlying processes. Such a materialist morality, paradoxically, is more moral than idealist versions, which may be spitting in the wind, and may by their arbitrariness divide people who ultimately could be on the same side.

The following article in today's International Herald Tribune gives some assessment of how the balance of forces has shifted in the world. Russia and China have gained by forcing the US to use the language of cooperation with them. The US has gained substantially by being the only world power able to coordinate such force and it is likely to overlook the degree of consensus and other ancillary assistance that was necessary to make the Coalition against Terror possible.

My guess is that Britain's weakness as the USA's most loyal ally will impell it quietly to cooperate more with Europe as a whole and that alongside China and Russia forces will try to create a more multi-polar world at a time within the framework of apparent consensus when the USA appears even more ascendant.

Much will depend on how much the world can pick up the agenda of September 10th again before the terrorists' opportunism diverted everyone's attention, including allies and opponents of US imperialism.

http://www.iht.com/articles/41436.htm

When America Banged the Table and the Others Fell Silent by David Malone, former Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations

Chris Burford

London



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