ZGram - 10/14/2001 - "Gorby's take on America"

[Ingrid Rimland]

Copyright (c) 2001 - Ingrid A. Rimland

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

October 14, 2001

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

I have had nothing but e-mail problems these last few weeks, and I have no
idea how many of my readers, if any, receive my ZGrams.  For instance,
today I did not receive a single e-mail whereas my regular load is about
300.

If messages from me to you are erratic, or if you are cut off, please know
that it wasn't my doing.

The anthrax scare continues, as do other dramatic developments, both good
and bad.  I have discovered a very nice summary website I would like to
recommend to you.  It is http://www.antiwar.com/latest.html  Take a look!

Here is today's ZGram.  I find it enormously instructive to learn how the
rest of the world views us:

[START]

Published on Saturday, Dec. 30, 2000 in  the International Herald Tribune

Mr. Bush, The World Doesn't Want to Be  American
by Mikhail Gorbachev

  MOSCOW - Dear Mr. Bush:

  I am writing to you as a citizen of our  planet and someone who beholds
the last  remaining superpower. Can there be any  doubt that the United
States plays a  major role in guiding our world? Only a  fool could
disregard that fact. To  acknowledge this is a given, even though  American
spokesmen are perhaps somewhat  overly inclined to press the point home  to
the rest of the world.

  For while America's role is acknowledged  throughout the world, her claim
to  hegemony, not to say domination, is not  similarly recognized. For this
reason, I  hope, Mr. Bush, as the new American  president, that you will
give up any  illusion that the 21st century can, or  even should, be the
"American Century."  Globalization is a given - but "American
globalization" would be a mistake. In  fact, it would be something devoid
of  meaning and even dangerous.

  I would go even further and say it is  time for America's electorate to
be told  the blunt truth: that the present  situation of the United States,
with a  part of its population able to enjoy a  life of extraordinary
comfort and  privilege, is not tenable as long as an  enormous portion of
the world lives in  abject poverty, degradation and  backwardness. For 10
years, U.S. foreign  policy has been formulated as if it were  the policy
of a victor in war, the Cold  War. But at the highest reaches of U.S.
policy-making no one has grasped the  fact that this could not be the basis
for formulating post-Cold War policy.

  In fact, there has been no  "pacification." On the contrary, there  has
been a heightening of inequalities,  tension and hostility, with most of
the  last directed toward the United States.  Instead of seeing an increase
in U.S.  security, the end of the Cold War has  seen a decline. It is not
hard to  imagine that, should the United States  persist in its policies,
the  international situation will continue to  deteriorate.

  It is also difficult to believe that,  under present circumstances,
relations  between the United States, on the one  hand, and China, India
and all the rest  of the earth that lives in abject  poverty, on the other,
could develop in  a positive direction. Nor is it  possible, on the basis
of its present  posture, for the United States to  establish effective,
long-term  cooperation with its traditional allies,  Europe first and
foremost. Already we  see numerous trade disputes, evidence of  the
conflicting interests separating the  United States and the European Union.
At  the recent conference in The Hague,  where the participants were
supposed to  come up with a common policy on limiting  greenhouse effects,
U.S. positions were  far removed from those of all others. As  a result, no
decision was taken. This is  clearly an example of a failure of  "world
governance."

  From the standpoint of the Old World,  the post-Cold War period ushered
in  hopes that now are faded. Over the past  decade, the United States has
continued  to operate along an ideological track  identical to the one it
followed during  the Cold War. Need an example? The  expansion of NATO
eastward, the handling  of the Yugoslav crisis, the theory and  practice of
U.S. rearmament - including  the utterly extravagant national missile
defense system, which, in turn, is based  on the bizarre notion of "rogue
states."  Isn't it amazing that disarmament moved  further during the last
phase of the  Cold War than during the period after  its end? And isn't
that because U.S.  leadership has been unable to adjust to  the new
European reality? Europe is now  a new, independent and powerful player  on
the world scene. To continue to  regard it as a junior partner would be a
mistake. Europe's experience must serve  as a lesson for future relations,
but it  can do so only if America and Europe  build a genuine, equal
partnership.  Finally, it is hardly a secret that  relations between the
United States and  Russia have deteriorated over recent  years.
Responsibility for this must be  shared between Russia and America.

  The present leadership of Russia appears  ready to cooperate with the
United  States in framing a new agenda for  relations. But it is unclear
what your  orientation will be. What we heard  during the electoral
campaign did not  sound encouraging. If we truly want to  build a new world
order and further  European unity, we have to recognize  that this will not
be possible without  an active role for Russia. This  recognition is the
necessary basis for  setting future Russian-American  relations on the
right path. The world  is complicated, it contains and  expresses a variety
of interests and  cultures. Sooner or later, international  policy,
including that of the United  States, will have to come to terms with  that
variety.

  [The writer, the last president of the  former Soviet Union, contributed
this  comment to the Washington Post.]  Copyright (c) 2000 the
International  Herald Tribune

  [In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C.  section 107, this material is
distributed without profit or payment to  those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving this information  for non-profit research and
educational  purposes only.

=====

Thought for the Day:


hought for the Day:
 world viewIn the age of the Internet, trying to gag the messenger whose
message may not be exactly kosher is like trying to capture a molecule in a
droplet of water out of the torrent rusing over the Niagara Falls.

(Sent to the Zundelsite)