Currents of Faith: Open and Unfolding Reflections

It is ironic that just as the neo-conservatives have visibly asserted American global rule, and also made us aware that from the beginning American foreign policy has been imperialist in nature, our global reach is receding. Our ability to shape human history is dramatically declining. Since process theologians can never support imperialism, the end of empire is good news.

Will the transition from world dominance to becoming one nation among others be painful? Perhaps. But we may take hope from what happened to Great Britain. The dismantling of the British Empire in the years after World War II did not bring misery to Great Britain. I dare say that life there has improved. Imperial power does not translate into happiness.

I write this soon after returning from my first trip to South America. In Bogota a team of process theologians for the first time established what should be a long-term relation with progressive Latin American theologians. Although Colombia may be the South American country most fully in the United States orbit, even there opposition to a “free trade” agreement with the U. S. is strong. Elsewhere setbacks to U.S. hegemony have been dramatic.

Lula of Brazil has been very moderate in his changes, but he has freed Brazil from the tyranny of the International Monetary Fund, which is, by and large, an extension of American power. Brazil can no longer be viewed as subservient to the United States. Argentina has also thrown off the IMF yoke. More confrontational has been the success of Hugo Chavez in his clear opposition to U.S. hegemony and his survival, thus far, of American efforts to overthrow him. The election of Morales, an indigenous leader in Bolivia, and his remarkable new constitution remove Bolivia from the U.S. orbit. Ecuador has been forced by indigenous pressures to steer an independent course. We may hear of coups and airplane accidents that turn back the clock here or there. But the direction will not be reversed by these traditional U.S. methods.

Venezuelan oil money is enabling South America to have its own development bank. For the first time since the conquest, South America will be free of foreign control. South American countries will control their own resources. They will make their own mistakes. While the U.S. projected its power in the Middle East, its long-established domination of the Western Hemisphere eroded sharply.

Meanwhile American military adventures in the Middle East have backfired. The chief result of overthrowing the Taliban government has been the renewal and growth of poppy production. Our man, Karzai, rules only a small part of the country. We are bogged down in Iraq, with our chief achievement being to weaken Sunni and secular forces. While we have made an enemy of Iran, we have put Iran’s natural allies in power in Iraq. Our threats and bullying of Iran have cemented an alliance of Iran with Russia and China, a power block that is certainly not subject to U.S. control.

Nothing shows the weakness of the U.S. more clearly than our threats against Iran. We have succeeded not only in strengthening its ties to Russia and China, but also in weakening secular and reformist forces there. At present it seems that the administration is clearing the way for massive bombing of Iran. Despite strong objection from the military, it will obey the president’s command. The chief military oppo0nents have been removed. The military forces in Iraq with the strongest ties to Iran have been weakened. Air craft carriers are in place. An attack seems probable.

Some would hold that this shows our strength. We certainly have the power to wreak a great deal of damage in Iran. But no one supposes that we can effect a regime change there favorable to our interests. In the long run we cannot in this way prevent an embittered Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. In the long run the danger to Israel is increased.

Meanwhile, in the short run, what real support we have among Shiites in Iraq will be lost. Our troops will be in greater trouble there, and it will be even more difficult to extricate our then from a worsening situation. Global oil supplies from the Persian Gulf are likely to be disrupted. There may be nuclear fall-out. Our “moderate” Arab allies will be weakened. What little moral authority we have in the world will be lost. Even in a final act of terrible aggression we will see the beginning of the end of American hegemony in the oil-rich Middle East.

Efforts at empire building are costly, and the elite who expect to profit from the fruits of empire are not willing to share in the cost. Middle class youth are not willing to give their lives for imperial purposes; so there can be no draft. Instead we exploit the National Guard, recruit the poor and unemployed, and supplement this army with very expensive mercenaries. The result is that the United States as a nation has been seriously impoverished. It has gown increasingly dependent on borrowing from China and other nations. The dollar’s value has fallen substantially. Our closest allies, the Europeans, have established their currency with all sorts of safeguards against inflation. Inevitably, the euro is replacing the dollar as the international currency.

We retain the power to destroy whatever we wish. For some time this threat may give us a certain global power, or it may lead to the ultimate catastrophe of nuclear war. In any case, the power to destroy will not give us the power to rule. Our obsession with military might has undermined our imperial ambitions.