Most of the interview focused on his thesis that the USA is an empire -- a good empire -- trying to create a democratic world. According to a former Director of Central Intelligence there are now 120 democratic countries out of 192 thanks to our leadership.
However, the author suggested, we have to learn what it takes to be a successful empire. We have military bases scattered around the world. We have the most sophisticated and powerful war machine that ever existed.
Our proconsuls - to use a Roman Empire terminology – and their war machine are dispatched with amazing speed around the world to change regimes, to fight criminals and terrorists, and to impose a new order.
The problem we have, Mr. Ferguson suggested, is that we fail to acknowledge we are an empire and that we make logistic mistakes. For instance, we lack the administrative and bureaucratic organization to effectively manage the transition to the new regime following the well-discounted war victory.
We are now deep in foreign lands. We are now the rulers of the Middle East. Bin Laden was an enemy located far away from us. Now he is at close range, living within the territories we have conquered. I am sure he must have been surprised by our agility and determination.
He did not like it that we had bases in Saudi Arabia. Well, now we are in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan. Turkey and Syria are following our “suggestions”. Jordan and Egypt are friendly countries. Saudi Arabia and Morocco are being forced to do something against terrorists following the recent attacks.
The outcome is that the Palestinians are being isolated. Did our proconsuls create a fertile territory for a lasting peace in the Middle East? Let’s hope so.
(This Observations appeared in the 5/26/03 issue of The Peter Dag Portfolio).
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