US policy of reshaping countries flawed

Li Haidong

THE victory of anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Sairoon coalition in Iraqi elections earlier this month embarrassed the US. Washington launched the Iraq War in an attempt to create a pro-US Iraq – leading to huge number of casualties and economic losses – but now it will probably see an Iraqi government that is anti-US and pro-Iran.
Historically, the US has had massive capacity to reshape a region or a country. During the American war of independence and territorial expansion, the US reshaped the political and security landscape of North America. It sidelined France, Russia and Spain, marginalized the UK and gave aborigines social status, establishing the basis for it to become a major world power.
After the 20th century, the US has applied this ability mainly in Latin America, Japan and Europe. Till the end of the Cold War, Germany and Japan were two successful examples of countries reshaped by the US and were accepted or even welcomed by the Western world.
Meanwhile, the US also changed the way European countries acted. It transformed Europe’s traditional logic of balance of power and helped bring about democracy in the continent, although it was dominated by the US. Washington also promoted European integration.
But after the end of the Cold War, when Europe changed its old mind-set of balance of power, it was used again by the US to handle its foreign relations. In the process, Washington tried to reshape Russia and some countries in the Middle East and North Africa, but failed. The US was no longer as powerful as imagined to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and reshaping them.
US political elites traditionally like to demonize ideological opponents and are fanatic about force, making it easier for the US to have distorted judgments of the domestic situation in other countries and thus exacerbating their internal chaos.
The US tends to overrate its ideology and deems regimes which disapprove or challenge US liberalism as rivals or enemies. This gives the US a simplistic view of the target country and a wrong judgment of the latter’s domestic power.
Military strikes are often a priority of the US. But its military might usually turns out to be destructive rather than constructive. The weakened or even destroyed regime of a country often foments riots, as seen in Iraq, Libya and Syria.
Besides, the US hasn’t done well in learning from tragedies and hence repeats its mistakes in its attempts to reshape other regimes. It believes that establishing a US-style democracy is a wish shared by all people. Its reshaping of Japan and Germany during the Cold War is often seen as a successful model to be applied to any other country.
However, several studies have shown that the cases are not universally applicable and failures are more often expected, as proved by US military intervention in Vietnam, in Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa.
The US believes that other countries’ models of governance lack legitimacy. As a result, it cannot assess the situation in other nations objectively and its policy often fails to change them as anticipated. This can be observed from changes in the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan and Ukraine.
Moreover, in diplomacy, the US prioritizes relations with others irrespective of whether other nations’ behavior is right or wrong, which makes its reshaping of other countries unsustainable. For the past 70 years, the US has believed that its successful diplomacy is based on a sound alliance system. This may be effective in dealing with external enemies, but useless in reshaping other countries.
In terms of alliance, the US relentlessly supports a political force without considering the latter’s public support. But what the US backs is often the disruptive force, which frustrates its attempt to reshape the country.
Despite a strong resolve to reshape other countries, the US method hasn’t worked effectively and more often it brings conflicts instead of lasting stability and peace.
—Courtesy: Global Times
[The author is a professor with the Institute of International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn]

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