TheKaleidoscopeofAmericanForeignPolicy 33wearemovingtowardaneventual"worldcommunity.""Insucha world,"
hewrites,"foreignpolicy-thedefenseofone'snationalinterests-would
ceasetoexist,havingbeencompletelyreplacedbya diplomacyaimingto
reconciletheinterestsofall.OurStateDepartmentactsmostofthetime
asifthatworldwerealreadyathand,asifdiplomacywerenolongerthe
handmaidenofforeignpolicybutitsmaster."I3
OthercriticsoftheAmericanelitehavemanagedtocombinethese
twoviews.Theeliteisbothruthlessandspineless:ruthlessinpursuitof
narroweconomicinterests,spinelessinitsfailuretostandupforthe
nationalinterestandtheinterestsofindividualAmericanworkers.That
is thepositionofcolumnistandperennialpresidentialcandidatePat
Buchanan.
Abroad,therearealsodifferentviewsbothofthestateofAmerican
societyandofthenatureofourforeign policy.Some, likeMalaysian
primeministerMuhammadMahathir,say wearea decadent society
thatpoisonstheworldwithourvileanddegradedpopularculture;our
decline is inevitable and alreadyfar advanced.' 4 Otherssee us as a
dynamicforceforchangethatposesa dangertootherwaysoflifepre-
ciselybecause oftheenergyandgrowthwedisplay.'s FormerSoviet
presidentMikhailGorbachevwarnedthatourhastyacts,ourunilateral-
ism,andourblusteringadventurismthreatentocreatehorriblechaos
andposea dangertoallright-mindednations.
AnotherviewholdsthatAmericanisolationismis thegreatestdanger
theworldfaces.Atanymomentwecouldpickupourmarblesandgo
home,leavingbothEuropeandAsiatofindtheirownbalance.Andstill
anotherholdsthatwehavecreatedsucha strongandsubtlehegemony
thatitisthedifficultdutyofeverynationonearthtoresistus."France
doesnotknow it,"itslatepresidentMitterrandoncesaid,"butweareat
warwithAmerica.Yes, apermanentwar,a vitalwar,a war without
death.Yes,theyareveryhard,theAmericans,theyarevoracious,they
wantundividedpowerovertheworld.",6
ThecriticismsofAmericanpolicyaresovariousandvociferousthat
theyremindoneofG.K.Chesterton'sobservationsabouttheattackson
Christianityinhis day. Notingthatsomecriticsattackedthechurch
becauseitwashostiletowomen,whileothersdespiseditbecauseonly
womenwenttoitsservices;thatsomeaccuseditofa hatredofpleasure
andpromotionofa life-hatingasceticism, whileothers attackedthe
luxuriantcorruptionofitshighclergy;thatsomeattackeditforpromot-
inga weak-mindedpacifism,whileothersattackeditsimplacablecru-
sadingspiritofintolerance,hebegantowonderwhethera religionthat