Rogue Nation: American Unilateralism And The Failure Of Good Intentions (Paperback)

What troubles Prestowitz, however, is not America's international policies per se but the manner in which we pursue those policies--a manner that may not always meant to be arrogant but certainly seems to be to the rest of the world. What especially distresses him are certain unilateralist principles proposed and implemented by "neoconservatives" like Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz.

In a way, it's too bad that Prestowitz chose such a deliberately provocative title, since the book itself, while undeniably opinionated, makes considerable effort to present both sides of every issue. Yet he correctly acknowledges that much of the international community regards the United States as a "rogue nation"--whether we are in fact or not. Likewise, the author contends that, although we are not technically an empire, we often behave like one--or, just as important, appear to others to have imperial pretensions. In a world where perception is reality, Prestowitz argues, it is foolish not to be concerned about international opinion, since we depend on other nations as much as they depend on us for both economic well-being and domestic security.

Above all, Prestowitz proposes that America's people and its leaders become better listeners--and Prestowitz himself is an astute listener. He has interviewed an impressive number of foreign diplomats, ambassadors, and government officials, and he faithfully presents their views even when he seems not to concur. What matters less to the author is how accurate international opinion is about American intentions or plans. Instead, he strives to understand how they arrive at contrary judgments: he provides historical context for various controversies and describes events, blunders, and misunderstandings that tend to support such mistrust.

He also contends that Americans often seem to treat other nations as inherently inferior or, even more insultingly, that we seem to feel that other cultures would be better off if they became just like us. As Prestowitz notes, "Nations are very much like individuals. More than desire for material gain or fear or love, they are driven by a craving for dignity and respect, by the need to be recognized as valid and just a valuable as the next person or country." Rather than forcibly imposing our lifestyle on reluctant populations, we would be far more productive in providing a model worthy of admiration, "a city on a hill"--especially since most of the world's peoples greatly admire Americans themselves while they regard our government's policies with increasing suspicion.

Prestowitz's treatise is enhanced by a riveting journalistic style, an impressive array of evidence, and a lucid synthesis of a variety of foreign policy issues. I don't always agree with his views or his conclusions. For example, while I support his argument that we should greatly lessen our military presence in the Persian Gulf, I don't buy his assertion that shrinking our dependence on Arab oil would cut off funding for terrorism. (Although a reduction in oil imports would offer many other benefits, the implication that boycott or impoverishment would reduce terrorism seems questionable.) Yet, even when one disagrees, the book is still informative and challenging, and I found his overarching thesis to be irrefutable: America cannot survive this century on its own, and we cannot continue to act as if we can.

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Prestowitz is a conservative Republican, a former member of the Reagan administration, and an elder of the Presbyterian church--scarcely the type one would expect to call America a rogue nation. But as a conservative he has very critical things to say about the neo-conservatives that currently control our foreign policy, whose agenda he says "is not conservativism at all but radicalism, egotism, and adventurism articulated in the stirring rhetoric of traditional patriotism."

The book is a compelling answer to Kagan's popular "Of Paradise and Order," which tends to characterize America, through neo-conservative glasses, as the only agent that can save the world from itself, an agent that "by advancing [its] own interests ... advance[s] the interests of humanity."

Two very different views of America's role. Every thinking American should understand the difference between them.

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Many readers may think this book the rantings of a left-wing ideologue, but for the fact it comes from a conservative. Prestowitz was a US trade negotiator under the Reagan Administration and possesses conservative values on par with any Reaganite.

Rogue Nations examines the inconsistency between what America preaches versus America's conduct, implemented through our policies. His ability to understand arises from his experience as a negotiator; i.e., one, who by profession, must listen and understand the other side in order obtain what he wants for America. This skill in listening serves him well because he presents to the readership the admiration and disappointments of others with America's behaviour.

Prestowitz begins with a very interesting point about America itself. He believes America is a religion. The American idea, articulated so well in the Bill of Rights, inheres in every citizen an idealism and vision that every person in the world can grab onto and believe regardless of race, religion, and gender. More importantly, is the belief that if "America" is good for us, then it must be good for everyone else and should be exported. Prestowitz discovers through conversations with Prime Ministers, Ambassadors, trade negotiators and business people around the world is that while the rest of the world truly admires American the idea (and Americans), it simultaneously resents us. The problem, as perceived by world citizens, is that what America wants for itself, many times, it will not afford to others. America possesses a certain religiosity about its ideals conferring a sense of entitlement and exceptionalism in comparison to the rest of the world-and there is the rub. Americans think they deserve the richness, wealth and resources other nations possess (oil, for one) because we are exceptional. Our way is the best way, if not the only way. We believe we are a chosen people possessing a manifest destiny to shape the world in our image and that creates resentment around the world.

The book is basically organized by policies and reveals how these policies affect other countries to their detriment and to our benefit. Chapters include international financial policy (and explains how IMF policy led by US policy makers and financiers exacerbated the Asian financial crisis); arms, military manufacture and military consultancy and how we weaponize the world (often selling weapons to both sides of a conflict); American subsidies (and how it destroys third world economies because they lack the financial assets to subsidize their own industries); environmental policies and the Kyoto treaty (and how America brought the world on board regarding environmental cognizance only to then discard treaties of our own instigation to the consternation of Europe); foreign policy and interventionism (He nicely demonstrates where and how we intervened in the domestic policies of other countries by installing dictators or engineering coups to the detriment of locals); domestic policy and Washington lobbies, specifically how the pro-Israel and pro-Taiwan lobbies affect foreign policy, often to the detriment of America's long term interests.

America has spent the last two years acting, by Bernard Lewis's standard, pointing the finger at others and saying "who did this to us." Clyde Prestowitz boldly challenges this mindset by asking America to understand how its actions abroad affect other and to take responsibility for it; to have the wisdom and humility to see the folly of our current and past acts, and to possess the courage to make changes accordingly.

Prestowitz's solutions for bringing American prestige, honor, and good-will back from the brink are based on pragmatism and fairness (50 years of Kissingerian manipulation is a losing long term proposition). His recommendations overturn the hypocrisy of our policies in light of our preachings to the rest of the world. More importantly, he prescribes solutions not out of self-hatred for America (the favorite accusation from the Right about those on the left), but from the desire to see America live up to its true potential-to BE the shining city atop the hill.

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