TechnoChitlins

End of the old order

Innocents Abroad has a startling take on the current world political climate- The Decline of Globalism- he sees the collapse of the old order in stark economic terms: bq. If the Security Council votes down a resolution that gives the U.S. a green light in Iraq, or if such a resolution is vetoed by a Permanent Member (unlikely -- French politicians are not made of such hardy stuff), the irrelevance of that institution would become undeniable. This would mean the end of the world order as it is currently constituted. The community of nations will split into several communities formed on the basis of truly shared interests, rather than a commitment to international parliamentarianism. Large-scale international cooperation will continue -- no one but the terrorists would benefit from international anarchy -- but it will be narrower in scope. International consensus will not be sought, at least not with the kind urgency it typically has been, by individual nations pursuing their interests, and that could make for some uncomfortable tensions in the near future among countries that now think of themselves, if only formally, as allies. bq. But what of the global economic glue that was to hold the nations of the world together in the common pursuit of prosperity? The main engines of the global economy are the U.S., Europe, and East Asia. Last month the U.S. economy lost approximately 300,000 jobs. The population of the U.S. is about 250 million, and the American labor force is roughly half that, or 125 million. 300,000 jobs represents more than 2/10ths of a percent of U.S. employment. In other words, more than one out of every 500 Americans lost their job -- last month! Things are no better in Asia -- Asia will go as Japan goes, and Japan isn’t going anywhere. As for Europe, Germany and France are the largest economies on the continent. Need we say more about Europe? Perhaps we should take a hard look at which group our interests really lie in. My vote's on the Anglosphere. Posted by maestro at March 10, 2003 09:40 PM | TrackBack