The World Does Need America

Sometimes we hate America, but sometimes we need its superpower to restore the situation. We sometimes see America as a good guy referring to Balkan war, but in another time as a bad guy seeing what has happened in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s like Goethe’s Faust: “Two souls, alas! Are lodg’d within my breast.”

As far as world affairs are concerned, only America has the world’s tacit mandate to reward or punish other countries. When the Serbs killed Bosniaks en masse, the world asked America-led NATO for aerial bombing. And it repeated in Kosovo war which NATO bombarded Yugoslav positions. The wars only stopped because of American intervention.

In contrast, America fails in Iraq and Afghanistan. The then-American president George Bush leveled charge of nuclear armament ownership, but later the accusation is baseless. America left Iraqis mired in sectarian war, rampant corruption and incapable government. It also happened in Afganistan. After 9/11 calamity, Bush sent troops to Afghan soil hunting for Osama bin Laden. The already war-torn country became the guinea pig for the state-of-the-art American war machine from bomb-laden drones to cluster bombs. At last, American can neither catch Osama nor stabilize the war-ravaged country.

Nowadays, the Libyan crisis emerges. The people are fed up longtime dictator Gadaffi. Unlike the similar revolution in Tunisia and Egypt which settled amicably, in Libya Gadaffi shamefully uses the arm forces to crackdown the protesters. Despite the rebels cobble the provisional army, but it’s no match with trained and well equipped Gadaffi’s forces, not to mention the involvement of mercenaries. No wonder the world are infuriated with the lopsided battle. Then the world cries out in unison: “Hey Yankee, no-fly zone please.”

Surprisingly, this time America seems to be reluctant with the rising demand. America might either get tired of war or have financial problems. America passively let the United Nations taking charge for the solution. Having lessons learned from Iraq and Afghanistan war, American officials said to resolve Libyas’ civil war other countries should also put their skin in the game.

Given the case of war in Balkan or Libya, it turns out to be the world does need a superpower putting the world in order. It’s strange feeling belying our instinct that all countries should have similar rights and obligations and no country can dictate others. We realize that without a superpower notion, the world becomes lawless. Of course, the rogues are still out there either in Myanmar or in North Korea, but their influences are very limited. Deep inside my heart I want America to liberate Myanmar’s and North Korea’s people.

Unfortunately, the superpower America is crippling. The political spats have worsened the impact of resent world’s economic crisis. America brought the world into crisis and took the brunt of it. While America scrambles for recovery, China, the rising dragon, stares at the number one position. China is now touted to be the world’s no.1 economy in the next decades replacing America.

However, will China deserve the police of the world? Can we accept the China’s value of no-freedom government? Can China change to America-like superpower embracing human rights, freedom of speech, etc when it gains its prosperity?

Since we can’t answer it now, we must have no other love, but America.

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