Pax Americana

By F.H. Knelman | 2003-07-01 12:00:00

Pax Romana, Pax Britannia and now, Pax Americana. American power controls the seas, the land, the air, and is planning to militarize space. America's dependency on oil has led to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, until George W. Bush became President, the grand strategy could not be implemented.

Super hawks proposed a new US policy in 1990 in "The Defense Policy Guidance (DPG)" study, which announced: "America is to be less bound to its partners and to global rules while it steps forward to play a more unilateral and anticipatory role, attacking terrorist threats and confronting rogue states seeking weapons of mass destruction." This plan was largely based on a book by Zalmay Khalizad, From Containment to Global Leadership (Rand Corp, 1995). Because the authors were not formally in government, they could afford to be candid. They would later become key actors.1 They are listed below.

The report said that, "The challenge of the coming century is to preserve and enhance the ÔAmerican Peace.'" The authors identified Iraq as a primary target for regime change, stating that the United States will have to perform "global constabulary duties" and that "American political leadership should have ascendancy over the UN."

In September, 2000 a new "think tank" emerged: The Project for a New American Century. (PNAC), which produced a document, "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century." Mostly the actors were the same as above. This was topped off by George Bush's "National Security Strategy of the United States of America." Now the hawks who had produced the DPG in 1990 held power. The paper called for regime change in Iraq by "any means, including war." Pax Americana would now be realized.

In April, 2001 Cheney formed a White House Energy Policy Development Group, in which Iraq was targeted for war. This was followed by Space Vision 2020, which plans a Star Wars domination of the world.

Cheney's former company, Halliburton, is a major supplier to the oil industry, and several Bush cabinet members come from the oil industry. In virtually all the aforementioned documents, Iraq is a major target for war.

The PNAC document makes clear that, to dominate the planet and control its resources, America needs "some catastrophic and catalyzing event -- like Pearl Harbor." In his book, The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy on its Geostrategic Imperatives (New York: Basic Books, 1997), Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote of the need for "circumstances of a truly massive and widely perceived external threat." This was delivered on September 11, 2001 and Condoleezza Rice, National Security Adviser, asked, "How do you capitalize on these opportunities?" (John Pilger, Hidden Agendas). The agenda of the super hawks was set in motion by the 9/11 incident. The United States has trashed the nuclear arms control regime, refused to sign the Kyoto Accords or to support the International Criminal Court -- all to make the world safe for investment.

1 See review by Professor John Ilkenberry in Sept. 2002 Foreign Affairs, and Jay Bookman, "The President's Real Goal in Iraq," in the Atlanta journal Constitution Sept. 29, 2002.

Prof. Knelman lives on Vancouver Island.

NAMEFORMER POSITIONCURRENT POSITION
Dick CheneySec'y. of Defense to George Bush, Sr.Vice-President
Donald RumsfeldSpecial Reagan Envoy to IraqSecretary of Defense
Richard PerleReagan Pentagon OfficialRecently, Chairman, "Defense Policy Board"
Paul WolfowitzAcademiaDeputy Defense Secretary
Zalmay KhalilzadAuthorAfghanistan Envoy
Lewis LibbyCheney AssociateChief of Cheney's Staff
Eric EdelmanOn Cheney's staffRumsfeld's Defense Policy Board
Dov ZakheimAcademiaUndersecretary of Defense and Chief Financial Officer, The Pentagon
John BoltonReagan's Assistant Attorney GeneralUndersec'y of State for Arms Control
Elliot CohenBush Sr.'s Defense Policy StaffDirector of Strategic Studies, Johns Hopkins
Stephen CamboneStrategic Head, Bush Sr. Defense Dept.Office of Program Analysis, Defense Dept.
Peace Magazine Jul-Sep 2003

Peace Magazine Jul-Sep 2003, page 30. Some rights reserved.

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