A U.S. national flag flies at half-staff at the White House commemorating former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington, D.C., the United States, on Oct. 18, 2021. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)
A self-proclaimed "shining city upon a hill," the United States has long positioned itself as "greater" and "superior" than other countries. However, the so-called American values it touted are nothing more than an ideological tool to safeguard its global hegemony. The "shining city" has been seeing its halo fading away amid social disparity, political polarization, uncontrollable epidemic and its futile foreign intervention.
BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Photos circulating worldwide of U.S. troops' helter-skelter withdrawal from Kabul in mid-August have laid bare the "crippled hegemony" of the United States.
Such a prophecy was made as early as 2002, nearly 20 years ago, by late Yale University professor Immanuel Wallerstein, who wrote in an article in Foreign Policy magazine that the expansion of the "war on terror," which began as America launched Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan shortly after the 9/11 attacks, would "rapidly diminish the already declining power of the United States in the world."
"By any measure, the 'war on terror' was the biggest project of the period of American hegemony that began when the Cold War ended -- a period that has now reached its dusk," Foreign Affairs magazine argued in an article published recently.
Afghan people displaced from their homes take shelter at a public park in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 11, 2021. (Photo by Sayed Mominzadah/Xinhua)
HEGEMONISM DOOMED
After two world wars, the United States emerged as the top power, and then dominated the construction of international political and economic order to better serve its interests. It often enjoys de-facto control over various international organizations established under its leadership.
The United States, motivated by its geostrategic interests, has long been a meddler in other countries' internal affairs and a subverter of their governance, inflicting wars and turmoil in various parts of the world.
Following the end of the Cold War, the United States became the sole superpower in the world, seeking to justify its wanton military operations in the name of "humanitarian intervention." Where there are U.S. troops, there is a mess, be it in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya or Syria.
However, the "unipolar moment" that once existed in the wake of the Cold War has already gone. It is now a more multilateral world, where all countries are inextricably interconnected and entitled to develop in their own ways.
The United States, once relying upon its technological strength and the dollar hegemony to reap the wealth of the rest of the world, has been caught in strategic anxiety and become increasingly overbearing.
Such egoistic and perverse hegemonism, nevertheless, is doomed to failure, with a debacle in Afghanistan being the best notation.
"From the COVID-19 pandemic to global trade rules, from climate change to economic development, the United States is actively frustrating the priorities of most of the world's democracies. In the process, U.S. foreign policy is -- in the name of democracy -- compounding the global crisis of democracy and delegitimizing U.S. power," said an article published by Foreign Affairs in July.
White flags honoring the lives lost to COVID-19 are seen on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the United States, on Oct. 2, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
DOMESTIC WOES
The sole superpower has now turned into a "failed state," as U.S. magazine The Atlantic commented. Its decades-long hegemony pales amid rising social unrest, decaying political governance, and clumsy epidemic response, which has been dragged down by spats over such science-based anti-virus protocols as mask mandates, self-isolation and social distancing.
Like a magnifying glass, the pandemic exposes deep-seated woes in the United States, including an insurmountable wealth gap (the richest one percent of Americans now holding much more wealth than the bottom 50 percent), rampant money politics (lobbying, campaign contributions, the revolving door, and manipulating mainstream media) and systemic racism (police violence against African Americans, hate crimes against Asians, etc.).
In such a politically polarized and highly fragmented society as it is today, American politicians obsessed with votes and partisanship and mired in veto politics of "no for no's sake" have neither the will nor the ability to solve the conundrums fundamentally sapping the American power.
Francis Fukuyama, a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, pointed out in an article published in The Economist in August that the long-term sources of American weakness and decline are more domestic than international.
In a report released in May, the Pew Research Center compared public trust data from 1958 to 2021, saying that only about one quarter of Americans say they can trust the government in Washington, and distrust of government is particularly acute among younger generations.
People are seen in the rain caused by tropical storm Henri, in Times Square in New York, the United States, on Aug. 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
HALO DIMMED
A self-proclaimed "shining city upon a hill," the United States has long positioned itself as "greater" and "superior" than other countries. However, the so-called American values it touted are nothing more than an ideological tool to safeguard its global hegemony. The "shining city" has been seeing its halo fading away amid social disparity, political polarization, uncontrollable epidemic and its futile foreign intervention.
A Pew Research Center poll released in June showed that only about a third of respondents in France, Spain and Greece viewed the United States as a trustworthy partner, and four in ten in France and Spain thought American democracy worked poorly.
Even among Americans themselves, about 62 percent no longer view their country as a "shining city upon a hill," a Yahoo News/YouGov poll in July last year showed.
Foreign Affairs magazine argued that in the 21st century, the U.S. government must realize that its "unipolar moment" has long gone.
At present, the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. It has entered a period of turbulence, with rising instability and uncertainty. An increasing number of people in the world have come to realize that hegemonic countries pursuing hegemonic policies and engaging in bloc confrontation and zero-sum game will only bring about conflicts, wars and disasters to humanity.
To address common challenges facing mankind, all countries must respect each other, live together as equals, pursue peaceful development, and achieve common prosperity.
The solution is not to hope for "more enlightened U.S. leadership," but instead to build a multipolar world together, Chandran Nair, founder and CEO of the Global Institute for Tomorrow, wrote in an opinion published on Oct. 3 by the South China Morning Post. ■
