23. april 2004 | 2. kvartal                                                                                < >

Joseph Nye i RÆSON | Right War, Wrong Time, Wrong Way

"Det er ironisk, at Præsident Bush under valgkampen i 2000 sagde, at vi ville blive respekteret af andre, hvis vi var en ydmyg nation og netop ikke var arrogante – især fordi Bush’s egen regering har ignoreret dette råd."

Men nu er Bush-regeringen gradvist ved at genopdage behovet for 'soft power' (blød magt) - efterhånden som den når grænserne for hvad den formår på egen hånd. RÆSON har mødt Harvard-professoren Joseph Nye, som indiskutabelt er en af verdens ledende tænkere indenfor international politik. Nye, der også var vice-forsvarsminister under Clinton, blev tidligere på året interviewet af Mads Fuglede om Bushadministrationens udenrigspolitik i både et historisk og et teoretisk pespektiv.

Nye kalder Irakkrigen "den rigtige krig, på det forkerte tidspunkt og den forkerte facon" Han fastslår: "Jeg mener, der er to dimensioner i, hvorledes Bush ændrede udenrigspolitikken. Den ene var at nyorientere det udenrigspolitiske fokus, og den anden var, hvorledes han fik dette implementeret. Nyorienteringen betød, at der blev sat fokus på masseødelæggelsesvåben og terrorisme. Det, mener jeg, var rigtigt at gøre. [...] Det, man ikke gjorde godt nok i udenrigspolitisk sammenhæng, var, at man negligerede de blødere magtmidler. Men regeringen er gradvist ved at indse, at man vil få bedre resultater ved at give institutioner og blød magt mere opmærksomhed."

Om de nykonservative: "De nykonservative vil jeg betegne som højreorienterede Wilsonister. Woodrow Wilson ønskede at fremme demokratiet i verden, og det har de nykonservative tilfælles med ham. Men Wilson ønskede også at styrke internationale institutioner, og på det punkt afviger de nykonservative fra ham."

Om hvorfor den nuværende præsident ikke har bygget på sine forgængeres arbejde i den israelsk-palæstinensiske fredsproces: "Under valgkampen hævdede Bush-lejren, at Clinton havde brugt for megen opmærksomhed og for megen politisk kapital på at løse et problem, der endnu ikke var parat til at blive løst – så de ventede på, at konflikten modnedes, men den rådnede i stedet for."

LÆS INTERVIEWET NU:

Joseph Nye i RÆSON | Den rigtige krig, på det forkerte tidspunkt - på den forkerte facon

Artiklen kan downloades både på dansk og engelsk (s.6)

PRESS RELEASE

Joseph Nye in RÆSON | Right War, Wrong Time, Wrong Way

“It is ironic that President Bush said during the 2000 election campaign that ‘if we are a humble nation, others will respect us. If we are an arrogant nation, they will not’, because his administration then proceeded to ignore his advice.”

Yet now, the Bush administration is gradually rediscovering its need for ‘soft power’ – as it reaches the limits to what it can manage on its own. RÆSON has spoken to Joseph Nye, professor at Harvard, who is without question one of the world’s leading theorists on international relations. Nye, who also served as Deputy Minister of Defense in the Clinton-administration, was interviewed by Mads Fuglede earlier in the year about the foreign policy of the Bush administration in both a historical and theoretical perspective.

Nye calls the war against Iraq ‘the right war – at the wrong time, in the wrong way’. He says: ”There are two dimensions to what Bush did in changing foreign policy. One was to reorient the focus of foreign policy and the other was how he went about implementing it. Reorienting the focus to put the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction and terrorism, I think, actually was correct. [...] Where they did not do as well is on the means of foreign policy, where they did not pay enough attention to institutions of soft power. But I think that they are gradually beginning to realize that in the implementation they will do better if they pay more attention to these issues."

About the neo-conservatives: “The neo-conservatives are what I would call Wilsonians of the right. Wilson himself wanted to promote democracy, and that the neo-conservatives have in common.Wilson also wanted to promote international institutions and that is where the neo-conservatives depart from him.”

About why the current President has not build on his predecessors work in the Israel-Palestinian conflicts: “The Bush people during the campaign claimed that Clinton had devoted too much attention and spent too much American political capital in solving the problem when it was not ripe for a solution, and so they waited for it to become ripe. Instead it became rotten.”

READ THE INTERVIEW NOW:

Joseph Nye in RÆSON | Right War, Wrong Time, Wrong Way

The interview is available for download in Danish and English both (page 6)

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