Nye Talks of New World Order

Dillon Professor of International Affairs Joseph S. Nye discussed the "new world order" in front of a standing-room-only audience of more than 500 in the Science Center yesterday.

In the talk, which was part of Junior Parents Weekend, Nye said international relations in the future will be governed by a complex series of interactions between countries, as opposed to the simpler, bipolar era of the Cold War.

The world order, according to Nye, will consist of a top tier controlled by the United States as the largest military power; a middle tier controlled by the economic blocks of the U.S., Europe and Japan and a bottom strata containing lesser actors.

Nye, who was introduced by Paul Bamford '93 as "one of the really big guns at Harvard," teaches the popular class, Historical Studies A-12, "International Conflicts in the Modern World." He has authored numerous books on international affairs.

Nye compared the new world order to a Valentine's Day card he received from his wife this year. It read, "You're the answer to my prayers--but you're not exactly what I prayed for."

Nye attributed the recent breakdown of the bipolar world solely to the decline of the Soviet Union. Nye disagreed with scholars who believe the United States has lost its status as a superpower.

The new world order, Nye said, will not bring multipolarity, unipolarity or a return to bipolarity. Instead, he said, it will look like a layered cake in which "old concepts of mechanical polarities and Newtonian physics no longer exist."

According to Nye, the line between domestic and foreign policy has become blurred because of nations' interdependence. He criticized the "Come home America" rhetoric used by some presidential candidates this year.

"The question that should be debated is not domestic policy versus foreign policy, but rather consumption versus investment," he said. "Are we going to have a little more jam on our bread today or more bread and jam tomorrow?"

Nye said politicians do not have to make a choice between foreign and domestic spending but that "it is possible to spend abroad and at home at the same time if you do something that's very unpopular--and that's raise taxes."

He also attacked anti-Japanese hysteria in this country as unwarranted, saying that most of the U.S. economy's problems are "made in America," not "made in Japan."

Both students and parents hailed Nye's speech as clear and well organized. Several added that Nye provided a refreshingly non-polarized viewpoint.