The Self-Limiting Superpower

If the laws of physics apply to geopolitics, the U.S. empire will continue to march forward until met with an equal but opposite force. The Bush administration sees no such hindrances on the horizon. No matter that the Chinese outnumber us five to one, the European Union's economy nearly rivals ours, Russia still has nukes aplenty, or the "international community" routinely inveighs against our unilateral tendencies. The Chinese are more than a decade away from superpowerdom, the euro is not (yet) the international currency of choice, Russia can barely control domestic affairs much less circumstances beyond its borders, and the "international community," like the Pope, commands no divisions.

This preponderance of U.S. power and its largely unchecked exercise has, not surprisingly, generated a good deal of hostility and a lesser quantity of constructive suggestions. A limitless war on terrorism and the relentless targeting of one region after another for preemptive action make our allies uneasy, particularly when it involves their treasuries and their body bags. The French and Germans are pushing for a more multilateral approach in Iraq. The Russians are urging greater diplomatic adroitness in Iran. The South Koreans are pleading for a non-military solution to the standoff with North Korea.

Some of the recommendations are more far-reaching. Take, for instance, a recent comment by Janusz Onyszkiewicz. This former Polish foreign minister and a long time friend of America called on Washington to become a "self-limiting superpower."

The phrase "self-limiting" has particular resonance for the Poles. During the 1980s, Polish dissidents rallied around the concept of a "self-limiting revolution." The pragmatists in the immensely popular Solidarity trade union chose to avoid making maximal demands that might put the Polish communist government in the awkward position of "inviting" Soviet troops into the country to quell disorder. Although commanding the sympathies of the vast majority of the population -- and thus enjoying preponderant though largely unexercised power -- Solidarity recognized that its actions could have devastating consequences. It decided to pull its political punches and seek revolutionary change through evolutionary means.

Onyszkiewicz and others would no doubt like to see the current team in Washington return to their conservative roots and become reacquainted with the virtues of restraint. The Bush administration will not voluntarily absorb this particular Polish wisdom. The Soviet Union is no longer a threat, and no single country has taken its place. An ethos of restraint runs counter to the habits of empires, which rule by fear and force compared to the "soft power" of mere hegemons. And, perhaps most importantly, the Bush team subscribes to the two doctrines of American exceptionalism. They believe that America is an exception to such historical trends as the overreach and collapse of empires. They also believe that the exceptional American model should be the standard operating system for humanity -- imposed Microsoft-style if necessary.

If there is no significant external check on the imperial ambitions of the United States -- aside from those that arise from the sheer messiness of reality such as the sovereign aspirations of Iraqis or the impossibility of taking out North Korea's dispersed nuclear facilities with "surgical" strikes -- we must look elsewhere for the force that will establish limits. We must turn our gaze inward -- to the American public itself.

It is a bitter irony that the citizens of the most powerful country in the world -- and thus, indirectly, the shapers of U.S. foreign policy -- are notoriously ill-informed about the outside world. We don't speak foreign languages; we restrict our travel abroad to cloistered resorts; we get our information about the world, if at all, from magazines (Time, Newsweek) and evening TV news programs that have gradually cut back on foreign coverage. It is no surprise, then, that seven out of ten American citizens, according to a Washington Post poll, continue to erroneously connect the dots between Saddam and 9/11.