3 What Is the “International Community”? Foreign policy in a Republican administration will . . . proceed from the firm ground of the national interest, not from the interests of an illusory international community. Condoleezza Rice
Th e i n t e r nat i o na l community illusory? Yes, it’s fairly fashionable to say so. But the international community is real. We Americans helped create it. And if we do a good job of helping it to grow, it could well prevent our children and grandchildren from ever having to hear a shot fired in anger. But first things first. Let’s understand what we’re talking about. To do so, let’s remove ourselves from the realm of academic abstraction and head straight for the real world. Come witness with me the creation of a new member of the international community. No, we are not in the well of the UN General Assembly, which U.S. conservatives (among them the Bush hegemonists) most often identify, derisively, with the international community but which is more like a modern-day Tower of Babel, wielding very little real influence or power. Nor are we at one of those big economic gatherings such as Davos, where the global elite meet and greetsomewhat nervously these days, as protesters rail at them from the barricades. Contrary to popular perception, the international community doesn’t derive its existence or true power from cacophonous conventions like these.