The False Promise of a New World Order

William O. Walker III

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511811784.009

7 - The False Promise of a New World Order

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012

William O. Walker III

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William O. Walker III: Affiliation:
University of Toronto

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What is at stake…is a big idea: a new world order, where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause to achieve the universal aspirations of mankind – peace and security, freedom, and the rule of law.

George H. W. Bush, 1991

Like George Bush, I was of a generation that embraced wholeheartedly the concept of a Pax Americana.

James A. Baker III, 1995

When the Reagan phase of the Cold War ended with a weakened Soviet Union, the discourse about security among policymakers and defense intellectuals, inside the Washington Beltway and at think tanks and universities around the nation, sounded decidedly triumphalist. Protective as ever of his and Nixon's policies and mindful of their legacy, Henry Kissinger continued to chide the critics of détente, in effect refusing to admit that the very word had become anathema for political reasons. Meanwhile, the imperative to contain potential adversaries remained at the very heart of strategic thinking in America. In that respect, containment in some form might survive as a useful tactic even after the Soviet empire finally collapsed.

The Carter and Reagan administrations had accepted the contradictory premises underlying strategic globalism: The application of American power was limited, yet the responsibility to act as the guarantor of order was global in scope. Kissinger grudgingly celebrated Reagan's achievements vis-à-vis the Soviets, finding in the Californian's actual policies, as distinct from the bellicose rhetoric he had initially employed, vital continuities from his own years in power.

Type: Chapter
Information: National Security and Core Values in American History , pp. 203 - 226

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511811784.009 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2009

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7 - The False Promise of a New World Order

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