Brzezinski Warns Against Unilateralism

Former Cold War politician Zbigniew Brzezinski spoke about the dangers of American unilateralism and its potential to spark a terrorist backlash at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum last night.

In a critical speech entitled “American Power and Global Security,” Brzezinski talked about how America must secure its interests by acting cooperatively and avoid “geostrategic catastrophe.”

“The U.S. today is the only global superpower. It’s just a fact,” he said.

Brzezinski, a native of Poland, spoke with the authority of someone intimately familiar with American foreign policy. He served as National Security adviser under former President Jimmy Carter.

However, in a departure from his reputation as a hawkish Cold War hardliner, Brzezinski advocated a vision of a softer, gentler United States that “infuses globalization with humane content.” In Brzezinski’s vision, the United States should abandon its trend toward single-handed action, exemplified by the Iraq conflict.

“Unilateral missionary zeal is a prescription for American isolation,” he said.

Brzezinski couldn’t resist certain allusions to Soviet-era hostilities. While the Balkans were fought over during the Cold War, Brzezinski dubbed Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Israel and Palestine the “New Global Balkans” due to America’s interests there.

In order to deal effectively with these threats, Brzezinski argued that the United States must cooperate with its traditional European allies, without whom it would “simply not be able to cope.”

He also stressed the importance of a transfer of power within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), whereby the United States acts as an equal partner with the European members of the alliance.

According to Brzezinski, legitimate organizations such as NATO should replace ad-hoc coalitions, which represent alliances based on “expediency and sometimes manipulation.”

Much of the rest of the speech warned of the backlash against perceived American arrogance in foreign affairs.

According to Brzezinski, terrorists are often poor people who are “acutely aware of their denigration” and who are resentful of wealthy Americans.

“Terrorism is a symptom of globalization generated by Americans, abetted by Americans and propounded by Americans,” he said.

He said that this envy is most dangerous when attached to a unified doctrine “to fill the vacuum of Marx.”

The new ideology, Brzezinski said, will have an “anti-American, anti-globalization thrust.”

Brzezinski was similarly critical of the Bush administration. He was especially vocal in his admonishment of the administration’s definition of threat.

He warned against defining threats in theological terms that draw upon popular fears of an abstract evil.

“We should avoid stamping conflict as religious,” he said. “We will create a religious gulf, the sharp edge of which will turn against us.”

Brzezinski said he was not surprised that the recent terrorists responsible for the Madrid bombings made statements referencing the Crusades.

He also pointed out that after Iraq, the current administration has been suffering from a loss of international credibility.

“The isolation of the U.S., the loss of credibility of the U.S. will produce countervailing forces that will push us collectively into growing and increasingly significant chaos,” Brzezinski said.

Brzezinski speech was met with extended applause.

Alexander N. Rossolimo, the president of the Mass. think-tank, the Center for Security and Social Progress, said he agreed with Brzezinski.

Rossolimo appreciated the indictment of the Bush administration as “not doing things for the welfare of mankind.”

“I’m looking forward to reading his book,” he said.

Brzezinski’s latest book, The Choice: Global Domination or Global Leadership, was published earlier this year.

Paul Bodnar, a first-year Ph.D. student in government, was similarly impressed.

“This speech was a good reminder of why its good to listen to people who have experience. Like his book, this was a clear, precise view of American foreign policy,” he said.

But not all listeners said they were stunned by Brzezinski’s ideas.

While Jason Larkin, a Ph.D. candidate in comparative politics, conceded that Brzezinski gave a “good speech,” these were all things he said he had heard before.

But Larkin added that it is a message worth repeating.

“It was nice to hear strong opinions not couched in political correctness. He didn’t say anything revolutionary, but people who are important need to say those things,” he said.