Shahid R. Siddiqi, at Foreign Policy Journal, December 2008, asks Is the ‘New World Order’ Changing Yet Again
Among the points made:
1. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, President George H.W. Bush announced the emergence of a New World Order.
He called it a path to peace.
He condoned the Iraqi move into Kuwait (which had formerly been part of 'Iraq')
He then invaded Iraq.
He tested out his new weapon systems on live targets.
The New World Order meant a world "ruthlessly controlled and steered by an imperialist America to serve its own ends."
2. By 2008 the USA was "in the throes of decline, its fall from power imminent."
G.W. Bush had attacked Afghanistan "to wipe out Al-Qaeda, that many suspect does not exist, and then Iraq that had not even provoked any one."
All this was done to “rid the world of terrorism”.
The real agenda was:
1. To demolish unfriendly regimes under the garb of “ushering in democracy”,
2. Splinter and remap the Muslim world,
3. Crush Islamic groups opposed to US policies,
4. Grab energy resources,
5. Extend hegemony into former Warsaw Pact countries and Soviet Republics,
6. Promote the interests of American military industrial complex that thrives on war,
7. Terrorize the world into submission and financially gain from the resulting chaos.
3. These actions brought ruin to America.
1. The war in Iraq cost $ 3 trillion.
US military spending increased by 60%, excluding war expenditure.
2. It became clear that the US military was not all powerful.
3. The USA was revealed as a nation that went in for subversion, regime change and human rights violations.
4. Some countries "began dissociating from US adventurism and refused to follow Bush policies."
4. The neo-cons were unable to see that "brute military might" does not work, especially when it is not backed by a strong economy.
Soviet Russia collapsed because it had a Third World economy.
5. In the USA, national debt approaches ten trillion dollars.
The American economy is in meltdown.
The dollar is under threat.
Some people suggest a US default on its debt by 2009.
6. Bush has been forced to retreat.
1. He negotiated with North Korea.
2. He signed a troop withdrawal agreement in Iraq.
3. He has looked at a tacit understanding with Iran.
4. He has signaled opening of a dialogue with the Taliban.
7. It is the beginning of the end of America’s era as the sole and mighty super power.
The New World Order has collapsed.
8. Obama inherits the following:
1. Two wars that are going nowhere.
2. A military budget almost equal to the world’s combined military budget and increasing.
3. Severely curtailed financial resources.
4. Social programs in tatters.
5. An economy in deep recession.
6. An America that is unpopular.
7. An America that needs to borrow money from the rest of the world.
9. The world’s economic epicenter has shifted to Asia.
An economically strong China is positioning itself as one of the future super powers.
Russia is beginning to reassert itself.
10. America cannot be written off completely.
America remains, for now, the biggest military power and the biggest economy.
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