With the West in Internal Conflict, Opportunity to Curb American Hegemony

Published in xinhua online
(China) on 1 July 2010
by Ren Weidong (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Qu Xiao. Edited by Sam Carter.
“The West” and “America and the West” are popular terms used in many research papers published in China and in Chinese media when analyzing the international situation at present. Some high-level discussions also take the whole West as one strategic entity. When holding such opinions, however, China may fail to get the full picture of the basic world situation.

After the Cold War and the disappearance of the Western countries’ common enemy, America began its own global expansion and exacerbated its conflict with European countries along its way — notably with the Iraq war. Up until today, many of America’s major allies on the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan haven’t been siding with their American buddies wholeheartedly. On the contrary, they’ve been simmering long-term plans to undermine America’s power. When it comes to the issue of Iran, they also have their own plans. After the current financial crisis, which has both exposed their conflicts and pushed them to a higher level, they cannot even reach a common ground concerning issues of neo-liberalism, the shape of capitalism and financial supervision. Moreover, in the recent European debt crisis, it was pretty obvious that America intended to give the Euro a heavy blow. America has been seeking hegemony, and Europe wants to paddle its own canoe; their conflicts are just becoming worse.

The same holds true for Japan and America. Japan has been in a stagnant economy for over two decades, which they take more or less as a gift from America. But sooner or later, the Japanese will get even with the Americans, and Japan’s embarrassing lower-handed position in the Japan-U.S. relationship since World War II will also be overturned. The dispute of the American military bases in Japan once again put Japan in a place of indignity, which has only made the two countries more hostile to each other. Although Japan does not possess the strength to break away from America’s control just yet — and they still need their American friends in many ways — Japan’s desire to stand on its own two feet is getting stronger and stronger. Therefore, the exacerbation of the Japan-U.S. conflict is inevitable.

What we usually say today — that “the Western powers are going separate ways with their own development”— seems inappropriate. To be more precise, “America and other Western powers are going separate ways” might be better-stated. By saying “the Western powers are losing their advantages,” what we mean is first, the decline of American power and second, the decline of European — and in this case, Japanese — power. If Japan and the European countries can get out of America’s shadow, conform to the new world order, strive to maintain independence and keep initiative in their own hands, they may escape the doom of collapse and possibly even gain a higher position in the world competition — especially Europe, for it has a larger potential for further development. But, sadly, the bloated nationalism and the inefficient policy-making mechanism in Europe may cast fog upon the future of solidarity on the continent.

America, of course, still shares an interest with other major Western powers — i.e., working together to maintain their monopoly on capital in the world economy. Such a dominant status, however, is hard to maintain, and the reason lies in the increasing contradictions among the Western countries. If one of them prospers, the others won’t necessarily follow suit; likewise, if one of them falls, it will fall alone. The ties among these countries are by no means strong, and their common interests are only temporary and volatile.

Thus, when studying Western countries, we need to see their differences and take care to analyze the conflicts between one another. If we simply conclude with “the strategic dilemma of the Western countries” in general, we will fail to see the most basic conflict in the present international relations, which is the conflict between the American hegemony and the demand of other anti-hegemony countries to both gain equality and be the master of their own house — in other words, the conflict between America and the rest of the world. The general categorizations “the Western countries vs. the non-West” or “the East vs. the West” are inappropriate. We can’t let those false notions blind our eyes and prevent us from seeing the true essence hiding underneath.

We can make better policies if we can fully grasp the picture of the world situation and the major conflict. Now that the Western countries are at odds, we should take the opportunity to curb the U.S. from undermining the Chinese economy, interfering with China’s politics and cozying up with allies against China. Meanwhile, we need to put a brake on America’s ability to wage wars and harm the world economy, and we should try to change the situation of the USD dominance. Europe is an important source of encouragement for China to realize her international strategic goals and help her to gain a greater influence in the world. It will be the right way to go for China to support Europe to enhance its independence, keep the initiative in its own hands, and help the euro strive for a higher position among the world currency. Yet, we cannot be too optimistic about the belief that America can’t stand to lose their Chinese friend. Indeed, America needs China, but first they will ensure that they have firmly taken control of China before any cooperative relations — which, in most cases, are reached by means of pressure and force — become possible. But with this kind of cooperation, China’s wish of promoting her independence and keeping the initiative in her own hands is not promising. Therefore, if we don’t have any counter-measures against America, cooperation usually just means submission.



 目前中国的许多研究材料和媒体都用“西方”、“美国与西方”这种提法来分析国际形势,一些高层次的讨论也把西方当作一个战略整体看待。这种看法对认识和把握当前世界基本格局非常不利。

  冷战后,西方世界面临的共同敌人消失,随后美国掀起一轮新的全球扩张,这种形势极大地加剧了美欧国家的内部矛盾。从这一角度看,伊拉克战争尤其具有标志性意义。直至今日,美国的几个主要盟国在伊拉克和阿富汗也绝非全心全意地支持美国,甚至怀有削弱美国的深远谋略。在伊朗问题上,欧洲和美国目的也不相同。而此次经济危机更暴露和深化了美欧矛盾。在新自由主义、资本主义模式、金融监管等问题上美欧分歧严重。在最近的欧洲债务危机中,美国刻意打击欧元的意图相当明显。经过此次危机,美国霸权与欧洲独立自主的这一美欧基本矛盾进一步深化。

  日本与美国的矛盾同样在深入发展。日本20年来的经济停滞有巨大的美国因素,这笔账日本迟早是要跟美国算的。战后几十年被美国控制的屈辱地位也是迟早要被日本摆脱的。日本在美军基地问题上再次受美国严重羞辱,这只能进一步深化日美矛盾。尽管日本目前尚无力摆脱美国控制,尽管日本还有借重美国的需求,但日本独立自主的意愿显然在明显增强,日美矛盾的深化不可避免。

  笼统地说“西方的离心倾向在发展”是不准确的。确切地说,是其他西方大国与美国的离心倾向在发展。“西方国家的优势在下降”首先就是美国的优势在下降。当然,西方优势的下降也包括欧洲和日本。假如欧洲和日本能够摆脱美国的控制,努力顺应新的国际秩序并在新的世界格局中占有独立的一席之地,那么它们的地位恐怕非但不会下降反而还会上升,尤其是欧洲显然更具有潜力。不幸的是,民族主义情绪上升及欧洲决策过程的特点有可能使欧洲团结为一体的前景变得更加遥远。
当然,美国与其他西方大国仍具有利益共同点,即共同维护国际垄断资本在世界经济中的统治地位。但是,这个地位是难以维持的,原因在于美国与其他西方大国矛盾深化和扩大。它们那种共同点具有暂时性和极大的不稳定性。在它们中间决不存在一荣俱荣、一损俱损的关系。

  所以,必须具体地分析西方国家各自的情况和他们之间的矛盾,笼统地说“西方国家的战略困境”没有突出当前国际关系的一个最基本的矛盾,那就是美国霸权与世界各国反对霸权、要求实现平等和独立自主的矛盾。这个矛盾最集中地表现在美国与非西方国家之间以及美国与其他西方国家之间。笼统地提西方与非西方的矛盾是不妥当的,笼统地提东西方矛盾就更不恰当了。总之,决不能用西方与非西方矛盾、东西方矛盾、南北矛盾掩盖美国与其他绝大多数国家的矛盾这一国际关系的主要矛盾。

  正确认识世界矛盾和格局的发展趋势利于为我们更好地做出政策取向。我们要利用机遇,削弱美国控制中国经济、拼凑制华同盟、干涉中国政治的能力。同时,要削弱美国控制和损害世界经济的能力,尤其是美元的寄生性霸权地位,削弱美国发动战争的能力。而欧洲是我实现国际战略目标的重要依托,是我扩大国际空间的重要着力点。支持欧洲独立自主能力的提高,支持欧元地位提升应成为我们的战略选择。对美国离不开中国合作这一点不能高估。美国确实需要中国的合作,但为此,美国先要把中国牢牢地控制在其战略体系之中,它更多地是通过各种强力手段来迫使中国合作。在这种所谓的合作中,中国独立自主的能力和空间未必能够提高和扩大。所以,如果没有反制美国的手段,合作往往就意味着屈从。▲
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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1 COMMENT

  1. You’re right…America needs to be punished.

    If I were China, I’d nationalize all the industries that moved from the States into China, and even jail any American executives that have been sent into your country…

    That’ll show us!