I would like to thank all of you for giving attention to my posts. My purpose is to widen debate at the American center so that impacts on non-Americans of US foreign policies are factored into the heat of domestic politics.
US policies impact heavily on non-Americans and the costs of being on the wrong side of the super power are very high. This is regardless of who occupies the White House.
Blogs offer a channel to make inputs before the policies are framed. They allow us to think together about the vital issues of our generation, including war and peace, human development, health, prosperity, environment and happiness.
Bloggers embody the international grassroots and are an appropriate foundation to build common ground. For the first time, we can realistically hope for a world “of the people, for the people�. We have people power at sufficient scale to hold our governments, organizations, corporations and civil society accountable for broken promises, incompetence, corruption and blunders. We need no longer be sheep to our leaders. Finally, we can make them work for us.
This is important because, for the first time, we have the means to bring freedom to humankind from hunger, denial of human rights and violent conflicts. For the first time, we can give heart to people subjugated by their governments and join their struggle for a better future. For the first time, we can fight disease, improve the environment and share culture at the grassroots.
My second purpose is to draw more attention to the creeping leadership vacuum in global affairs. I prefer US preeminence because it is the world’s most transparent society. Everybody, including outsiders, can have access to its decision-making processes. However, there is need to moderate the “what is good for America is good for the world� model because it no longer persuades.
Currently, even European allies do not defer to American views. Some other countries fear the US so much that they are building deterrence despite Washington’s saber rattling. Recent years have clearly shown that American power can conquer adversaries but is less capable of replacing them with friends.
Only policies that inspire trust in American fairness can unblock the logjams. This is a necessity for world peace and the safety of the American people, not appeasement. All of us know how lethal hatred can be. We also know how hard it is for the US military to defeat hatred and how costly it is for taxpayers.
Fairness means different things to different people. The first step is to share and discuss our perceptions of “realities and facts� with concern and moderation. Usually, differences in perception underlie the grievances that feed conflicts.
Together, we must discover the necessary conciliation to handle threats like terrorism, nuclear proliferation and weapons in space. Each is too important to be left only to governments. Iran is already heading to a regional nuclear arms race and China is moving to deter America in space.
We must also consider such wider issues as disruptive globalization and perceived humiliation because they spawn the tensions leading up to man made catastrophes, like those of Afghanistan, Iraq and several African countries.
Finding solutions is urgent because we have no alternative to getting along as best we can on our inflammable planet. As a foreign correspondent graduated to commentary, my specialty lies in listening to and putting together the views of experts and those with hands-on experience.
My numerous sources built over 25 years are global, including a few Americans with international knowledge. I deliberately seek non-American expertise because over 4 billion non-Europeans are awakening and demanding influence in global security, environment, economic and social affairs. Their poor governance, diseases, poverty and wars affect people everywhere.
By thinking through these matters, we can help to prevent slippage into a world culture of fear and muddle. With this in mind, I readily accepted Joe’s invitation to enter your TMV community. I recognize that my contributions sometimes make stark reading but please be assured that I intend no disrespect to Americans of any political color.
Nor do I mean to criticize. However, as in any vibrant democracy, debate on key policy issues becomes blinkered by narrow views of national interest. I am trying to get in on the ground floor because Americans have the generosity to consider other viewpoints presented in timely fashion.
Experts, grandees and influential media meet in numerous august forums. I trust we can do so in the forum closest to ordinary people: the blog. All we need are authenticity and good will spiced with humility.