Al Jazeera likes to have variety! Apparently Obama is envisioning a
post-imperial U.S.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/04/20114573424979413.html
t seems to me that the time has come to give the president credit where credit
is due. Obama’s speech of last Monday concerning Libya, even if not as
rhetorically shimmering as some others, was nonetheless a masterful address.
It was thoughtful, it was nuanced and, most importantly, it provided a
compelling rationale for the limited programme of action which the president
has
established for the US in that North African country. The speech was yet more
important, however, for reasons having little to do with Libya per se.
For in the president’s words last week we can begin to see the outlines of a
much broader program for the future use of American power. A president who
clearly sees himself as a transformational figure is beginning to lay out the
template for a post-imperial America.
For most of the last century, the United States has been an imperial power -
imperial not in the sense of the colonial powers of the 19th and early 20th
centuries, but in the “best” sense of the word: that is, as a power which sees
its national interests in broad, and not narrow terms.
The author:Robert Grenier is a retired, 27-year veteran of the CIA’s
Clandestine
Service. He was Director of the CIA’s Counter-Terrorism Centre from 2004 to
2006.
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