In March of last year I described the sorry state of international affairs in the piece, “If the U.S. won’t lead, no one will.” Recent events have only demonstrated the truth of these words, and the extent of the international community’s moral vacuum.
Take Zimbabwe. Last month Robert Mugabe’s party literally killed, beat, and raped to stay in power, making a mockery of democracy and the rule of law. A U.S.-sponsored Security Council resolution to impose sanctions on the Mugabe regime was swiftly vetoed by Russia and China. The Mugabe regime proudly declared the defeat of the resolution a “victory against racism,” showing once again that any criticism of developing-country despots is immediately written off as a colonialist/imperialist plot; in fact, Mugabe’s party plastered the cities with posters showing the opposition leader juxtaposed against images of George Bush and Gordon Brown.
The UN effort was not alone in failing. The African Union (particularly South African President Mbeki), proving once again unworthy of the international stage, allowed Mugabe a place at its most recent summit and said not a word about the unfolding election situation in his country.
The roles of Russia and China on the world stage continue to be extremely troubling as they stymie efforts by the U.S. and the EU to deal with emerging security threats and humanitarian crises, including those in Iran and Sudan. When international pressure and possible condemnation are on the horizon, for almost any autocratic and repressive regime, Russia and China rush to the rescue. They block action and sometimes even provide material support.
China’s role in Sudan is particularly unconscionable; they are not only blocking efforts to impose sanctions on the Sudanese regime, but actively arming and training the Sudanese military as it continues its genocidal rampage. As someone who just visited China and strongly supports its economic rise, it is extremely disturbing to see the government use its newfound international prominence in such destructive and immoral ways.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) took a step in the right direction last week in calling for the arrest of Sudan’s president, but this largely symbolic act will likely do little to stop the bloodshed, and may actually increase it. The recent arrest of one of Serbia’s most notorious war criminals, who will now stand trial at the ICC, is a victory for justice and human rights, but has more to do with Serbia’s desire to join the EU than respect for international norms.
Two weeks ago Thomas Friedman made many of the same points I’m making in his Sunday editorial, but he also chose to highlight the relative unpopularity of America abroad as evidence that world opinion polls are essentially meaningless. While I clearly agree with many of his primary points about the international leadership vacuum, his secondary point about public opinion is misguided.
Americans shouldn’t care about world opinion because we want to win global popularity contests, but because it influences our ability to act on the world stage. When large numbers of people abroad don’t like us they vote and support more anti-American political groups (and sometimes extremist organizations), who then make it much harder for us to build coalitions and rally the world for good causes. I don’t want to overstate this point, but it is something frequently missed by people on both the left and right.
Americans will soon have a chance to elect new leadership in the U.S. and chart a new course for the world community. Neither Obama nor McCain will be able to solve all of the world’s problems; at the same time, it is sobering to realize how much worse the world situation would be if the U.S. didn’t take the lead in world affairs.
P.S. One just needs to look at the composition of the U.N. Human Rights Commission to see the contradictions in the current international framework that makes action against tyrants extremely difficult.
Jason Scorse