The Postmodern Man's Burden

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The Postmodern Man's BurdenAuthor(s): Hugo YoungSource: Foreign Policy, No. 131 (Jul. - Aug., 2002), pp. 85-86Published by: Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, LLCStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3183426 .Accessed: 14/06/2014 13:37

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the country's broader patterns of social and economic development. Kshetri and Cheung praise China's transformation "from a rural based economy to one of the leading mobile markets," but their analysis largely ignores the human develop-

ment trade-offs inherent in such a transition. For example, investments in telecommunications and state pro- motion of the mobile phone have gone hand in hand with the highest urban-rural income gap in the world as well as a below-average record

in education expenditures as a per- centage of gross domestic product among developing countries. Any- one seeking to replicate the Chinese telecommunications experience would do well to keep such trade- offs in mind. [H

The Postmodern

Man' s Burden By Hugo Young

SForeign Policy Centre, March 2002, London

Empire" is among the dirtiest words in the modern dic- tionary of geopolitics. But in

the postmodern world, a new version of imperialism could offer a range of solutions to present discontents. Or so Robert Cooper argues in "The Post Modern State"-an essay fea- tured in Re-ordering the World: The Long Term Implications of Septem- ber 11th, a recent collection pro- duced by London's Foreign Policy Centre, a four-year-old think tank. Until recently, Cooper was British Prime Minister Tony Blair's key foreign policy advisor; his views there- fore have a certain global resonance. Because Blair is the only national leader currently offering unqualified public support for U.S. President George W Bush, the theory of a new imperialism might yet supply a rationale to American as well as British policy toward seedbeds of terrorism, such as Afghanistan and other failed states.

Cooper considers the European Union (EU) the best developed exam-

ple of a postmodern system, at a time when balance-of-power strate- gies are an anachronism and new patterns of voluntary interdependence between once warring states have emerged. In such a system, nations accept interference in each other's domestic affairs, support international inspection of mili-

more enlightened postmoderns, of a benign form of imperialism.

Cooper cautions that remain- ing members of the classical state system that continue to operate by the principles of unvarnished national interest may need to be dealt with harshly. In some cases, he writes, "we need to revert to the rougher methods of an earlier era-force, pre-emptive attack, deception, what- ever is necessary to deal with those who still live in the nineteenth cen- tury world of every state for itself." We postmoderns, he rather piously adds, may keep the law, but we are operating in a jungle and must know

Moral imperialism is becoming one of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's most striking traits.

tary hardware, and are eager to construct networks of control and support that transcend the usual jealousies of the nation-state.

The state, on Cooper's read- ing, remains the building block of the world order. "The EU," he writes, "is more a transnational than a supra-national system." No European superstate will emerge; rather, existing nations will mere- ly sacrifice some traditional state powers to enhance the greater regional good. Both modern and premodern states should share in this postmodern embrace through the exercise, on the part of the

how to fight there. Premodern or failed states pres-

ent the risk of chaos. Indeed, they may not be states at all, explains Cooper, since they often lack command of territory or people. Here we find the world's major drug pro- ducers, for instance, and the breed- ing grounds of international terrorism. Left out of the global economy, such states descend into the vicious circle of further disorder and less investment. For the world's sake, they need help.

Enter the "cooperative empire" or the "voluntary imperialism," already emerging beyond the EU.

Hugo Young is a political columnist for the Guardian.

JULY IAUGUST 2002 85


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Global Newsstand

Cooper cites the Balkans as a zone in which stability is supplied not only by soldiers but by an entire civilian task force-police, prison officers, bankers, and judges-wel- comed there for the assistance they can give. The author's admittedly idealistic and far-distant proposal lies in the missionary provision of similar services to failed states. He believes postmodern states should pursue such a strategy if the world is to avoid the horrors of terrorism and nuclear capability that, according to Cooper, the premod- erns will soon possess.

Cooper's thesis poses a partic-

ular challenge to the United States, since interdependence is hardly the organizing principle of the Bush administration's foreign policy. The political elite and voters in the United States seem much more likely to understand pre- emptive attacks than the far-sight- ed yet self-interested generosity Cooper advocates.

In Britain, on the other hand, Cooper comes close to articulating the prime minister's opinion. "The Post Modern State" could almost be called a Blairite tract, but for the somewhat muted way Blair- with the sole exception of his first

major post-September 11 speech- has pursued this agenda. Moral imperialism is becoming one of Blair's most striking traits: He favors an attack on Saddam Hus- sein and proposes enlivening African democracy, from Sierra Leone to points east and south. In this sense, Cooper supplies the intel- lectual superstructure for what Blair feels yet seems reluctant to say.

Whether Blair has the support of the British people, or even of his own party, remains unclear. But his message, I think, is one that few other world leaders would dare contemplate. [0

A New Ethical Front By Joel H. Rosenthal

* Journal of Military Ethics, Vol. 1, No. 1, January 2002, Oslo

he moral certainty of the war on terrorism raises more questions than it

resolves. The civilized world has made its position clear: Killing innocents is wrong, and terrorists should receive the full force of moral condemnation, law, and state and military power. But we must also make more complex judgments. How far should we go in applying the principle of antici- patory self-defense in this war? What restraints apply? What is the proper relation of the use of force to the pursuit of peace?

The Journal of Military Ethics (JME) could not have appeared at a better moment. With the realiza- tion that asymmetry now defines

the modern battlefield, the moral climate for the use of force is chang- ing. The JME, which will be published quarterly by 2004, is well positioned to reflect on what that change means. Based in the Nor- wegian Military Academy in Oslo and relying on distinguished edito- rial advisors, the journal is a rare space where policymakers, military officers, and philosophers can meet on equal footing.

Stephen Wrage's article, "Cap- tain Lawrence Rockwood in Haiti," appearing in JME's inau- gural issue, is an excellent case in point. Wrage, an associate profes- sor of political science at the U.S. Naval Academy, provides a telling account of the moral dilemma that Captain Rockwood, a young U.S. Army counterintelligence officer, faced when he was dispatched to Haiti in 1994 to support the mis- sion to promote human rights and to restore President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power.

As Wrage details, "Captain Rockwood felt that his conscience, his humanitarian duty and international law all required that he inspect the National Penitentiary where, intelligence reports showed, political prisoners were being tor- tured and murdered. His chain of command was unanimous in refus- ing him permission to inspect the prison and in directing him to do nothing that would endanger frag- ile relations with the ... departing Cedras regime." What should Rockwood do-grab his gun and climb over the wall to fulfill his moral imperative or fall into line as ordered? After failing to gain the support of his superiors, Rockwood jumped over the wall. And in dra- matic fashion, he left a note: "You cowards can court martial my dead body." Yet Wrage ends this story with deliberate ambiguity, letting the reader speculate about the pro- priety of Rockwood's actions and his punishment, if any.

Joel H. Rosenthal is the president of the

Carnegie Council on Ethics and Interna- tional Affairs in New York City.

86 FOREIGN POLICY


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Article Contentsp.85p.86

Issue Table of ContentsForeign Policy, No. 131 (Jul. - Aug., 2002), pp. 1-96Front Matter [pp.2-94]Show Me the Hegemony [p.1]LettersMarketing Morality [pp.4-10]Fists across the Water [pp.10-12]Saddam Truths [p.12]

In BoxAccountable Aid [p.14]Strategic Truths [pp.14-16]

Think AgainYasir Arafat [pp.18-26]

Prime NumbersHostage, Inc. [pp.28-29]

The FP Interview: The World according to Larry [pp.31-39]EssaysThe Cartel of Good Intentions [pp.40-49]The World's Right to Know [pp.50-58]The Eagle Has Crash Landed [pp.60-68]

Between the Lines: Havens Can Wait [pp.70-71]ArgumentsFrance's Political Whodunit [pp.72-73]Recycling Environmentalism [pp.74-76]

In Other Words: Reviews of the World's Most Noteworthy BooksIndonesia's Moderate Islamists [pp.77-79]Trading Places, Part 2 [pp.79-81]

Global Newsstand: Essays, Arguments, and Opinions from around the WorldSoccer Goes Glocal [pp.82-83]The 'People's Phone' on Hold [pp.83-85]The Postmodern Man's Burden [pp.85-86]A New Ethical Front [pp.86-88]One Boardroom Fits All? [pp.88-89]

Net Effect: Web Sites That Shape the WorldThe Middle East's e-War [pp.90-91]Expert Sitings [p.91]

Missing Links: The New Diaspora [pp.96-95]Back Matter

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The Postmodern Man's Burden