DATE=5/21/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-43473
TITLE=U-S HEGEMONY
BYLINE= ED WARNER
DATELINE= WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT: 

INTRO:  UNILATERALISM OR MULTILATERALISM?  SHOULD THE UNITED 
STATES ACT ALONE OR IN CONCERT WITH OTHER NATIONS?  IS THE UNITED
STATES RISKING ISOLATION IN ITS CONTINUED BOMBING OF SERBIA?  
THESE QUESTIONS WERE DEBATED AT A RECENT WASHINGTON CONFERENCE 
(5/21), WHERE SPEAKERS PONDERED THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ONLY 
REMAINING SUPERPOWER.  V-O-A'S ED WARNER REPORTS ON THE 
DISCUSSION.

TEXT:  THE UNITED STATES, IT IS SAID, EXERCISES HEGEMONY OVER 
MUCH OF THE WORLD.  BUT IS THAT GOOD OR BAD? 

PARTICIPANTS IN A RECENT CONFERENCE AT THE CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR
INTERNATIONAL PEACE OFFERED SHARPLY DIFFERENT ANSWERS. ROBERT 
KAGAN, WHO WRITES EXTENSIVELY ON FOREIGN POLICY, SAID THE UNITED 
STATES MUST IGNORE INTERNATIONAL OPINION WHEN THE OCCASION CALLS 
FOR IT.  HE BELIEVES THAT IS THE CASE WITH THE BOMBING OF SERBIA:

                        /// KAGAN ACT ///

         AT THE END OF THE DAY, THE BEST HOPE FOR ADVANCING A 
         LIBERAL  INTERNATIONAL ORDER RESTS ON THE POWER THAT IS 
         MOST DEVOTED TO IT, WHICH REQUIRES, I AM AFRAID, FOR 
         THOSE WHO FIND THIS PROBLEMATIC,  MORE  EXERCISE OF 
         AMERICAN POWER,  NOT  LESS.  AND THAT IS MY CASE FOR 
         AMERICAN HEGEMONY -- THE FACT OF BEING THE MOST 
         INFLUENTIAL POWER IN THE WORLD.

                         /// END ACT ///

MR. KAGAN SAYS A HEGEMONIC POWER INEVITABLY DRAWS CRITICISM,  NO 
MATTER HOW COOPERATIVE IT IS, AND THE UNITED STATES MUST BEAR THE
BURDEN OF LEADERSHIP.

DANIEL FISK, A FORMER COUNSEL OF THE U-S SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS
COMMITTEE, SAID THE UNITED STATES DID  NOT  SEEK HEGEMONY OR EVEN
WANT IT.  CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE LED TO AMERICAN PRIMACY: 

                        /// FISK ACT ///

         WITHOUT AMERICAN LEADERSHIP, THERE WOULD BE A VOID.  
         OTHER STATES WITH SIGNIFICANT CAPABILITIES -- BE THEY 
         MILITARY, ECONOMIC, DIPLOMATIC OR POLITICAL -- TOO 
         FREQUENTLY ARE UNWILLING OR TOO IRRESPONSIBLE TO ENGAGE 
         OR LEAD ON ISSUES BEYOND SIMPLY THE PURSUIT OF THEIR OWN
         NATIONAL INTERESTS.

                         /// END ACT ///

BUT U-S HEGEMONY RECOGNIZES  NO  LIMITS, ARGUED CHARLES WILLIAM 
MAYNES, PRESIDENT OF THE EURASIA FOUNDATION, WHICH PROMOTES 
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION.

HE SAYS PROPONENTS OF UNILATERAL ACTION, WHETHER OF THE POLITICAL
RIGHT OR LEFT, WANT TO USE MILITARY FORCE REGARDLESS OF OTHER 
NATIONS' OBJECTIONS.  FROM HIS OWN TRAVELS, MR. MAYNES CITED 
GROWING GRASS-ROOTS ANIMOSITY TOWARD AMERICA, IN RUSSIA AND 
ELSEWHERE.  YET HE NOTES THAT NATO, UNDER U-S DIRECTION, EVEN 
TALKS ABOUT INTERVENING IN THE CAUCASUS, ON RUSSIA'S DOORSTEP: 

                       /// MAYNES ACT ///

         THE REST OF THE WORLD WANTS AMERICAN ENGAGEMENT, 
         AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP AND EVEN AMERICAN LEADERSHIP.  IT 
         DOES  NOT  WANT AMERICAN DIRECTION.  WE HAVE TO FACE THE
         FACT THAT  NO  NATION IN HISTORY HAS BEEN ABLE TO 
         MAINTAIN A HEGEMONIC POSITION WITHOUT A DEGREE OF 
         RUTHLESSNESS IN ITS INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THAT IS 
         TOTALLY ALIEN TO THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY.

                         /// END ACT ///

MR. MAYNES SAYS AMERICA IS A COUNTRY WITH IMPERIAL CAPABILITIES, 
(BUT) WITHOUT AN IMPERIAL MIND.  IN HIS VIEW, AMERICANS WILL DRAW
THE LINE AT OVERSEAS MILITARY INVOLVEMENT, EVEN IF THEIR LEADERS 
DO  NOT.   (SIGNED)

NEB/EW/WTW

21-May-99 7:18 PM EDT (2318 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.