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- CRITICS OF NYE
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NYE ON GLOBALIZATIONNeither a demagogue nor a radical, Nye takes the line on globalization that you might expect from an establishment centrist. While himself an advocate of a globalized economy and free trade – believing that the rising tide of economic growth lifts all boats, even the poor – he is one of the few mainstream analysts who has attempted to seek out ways to assuage the concerns of protesters. While he surely agrees with virtually none of their prescribed solutions (calling anti-free trade protesters “demagogues in the street”), he at least has attempted to address the flaws in the system some have identified. In an article for FOREIGN AFFAIRS, an establishment journal that some call the most influential in the world, Nye wrote on “Globalization's Democratic Deficit: How to Make International Institutions More Accountable.” He sets out a program of action for increasing transparency and democratic accountability for actions at organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization. He reasons that if decisions are made out in the open, and that citizens might have better opportunities to influence those decisions, that might satisfy the majority of the populace and confer a legitimacy on those institutions they haven’t seen yet. While Nye recognizes this probably won’t satisfy everyone, especially the radical left, it will help allay the fears of most Americans and other world citizens. CRITICS OF NYECritics of Nye fall into several different categories. The mainstream left criticizes Nye’s optimism about the positive influence of American soft power and the stabilizing character of the American military presence overseas. For example, Nye is a staunch defender of the Japan-U.S. security relationship. This entails both the United States maintaining a military presence in Asia (predominantly on the island of Okinawa) and the United States continuing to exert influence over Japan in international relations. Critics of this policy, including the Japan Policy Research Institute (headed by the noted Asian scholar Chalmers Johnson) argue that the American military presence is more destabilizing than anything, and that Nye misanalyses available data from polls and opinion surveys. Instead, the JPRI and Johnson claim that the American military presence overseas, and in Japan particularly, is engendering a “blowback” -- unintended and unpredictable consequences which threaten security instead of enhancing it. There is no better example of this blowback, Johnson argued in his 2000 book of the same name, than the U.S.-Japan relationship. Just look at Okinawa. The American military bases on the island are the subjects of constant protests from the locals; America keeps itself in the news in a negative manner due to the annual rapes of young Okinawan girls committed by American servicemen; and any military utility of these bases is speculative at best. even if the “soft power” phenomenon is true, Johnson argues, American credibility is diminished, not enhanced, by this unwieldy and counterproductive arrangement. It is more likely, according to Johnson, that the arrangement is contributing to “imperial overstretch” rather than “soft power.” Imperial overstretch is where an empire (like the United States) tries to project power into too many places, on too many fronts. Nye’s defense of the U.S.-Japan arrangement might be just such an example of overstretch. Further left, many take issue with Nye’s notion of the American national interest -- and his assumption that advancing the American national interest is in the interest of the world at large. Take, for example, the distinction between soft power and hard power. They have a common denominator -- the term “power.” No matter how you slice it, the United States is going to be extending its influence on the world in a manner designed to advance its interests. No great radical thought here: everyone from the establishment to Noam Chomsky agrees on that. The difference between Nye and his critics is that Nye believes American influence is generally benign or positive. Even open-minded, liberal internationalist thinkers like Nye -- who take a broader view of the American national interest -- are still trapped by the paradigm of American imperialism in the view of these critics. While Nye might say that the United States should continue to maintain a forward presence in Asia in order to prevent a power vacuum in the region, thus preventing a war that is damaging to American (and world) interests, critics would say that the lens he uses to evaluate such phenomena is fundamentally corrupted. This lens seeks threats in the world for the United States to solve. As the old Chinese proverb goes, if you go looking for enemies, you will probably find them. Similarly, critics say, people looking for a role for the American military (or even “soft power”) will probably find an indispensable role for it. This type of self-justifying behavior, critics say, serves to perpetuate the hegemonic imperialism of the United States just as much as the more realpolitik theorists. Perhaps there is a reason that Henry Kissinger has praised Nye despite their differences? IN CONCLUSION It’s always difficult to analyze a scholar’s impact while that scholar is still producing materials – especially when that scholar is as prolific as Nye continues to be. His most recent book was just published this year, and he continues to write for the most influential periodicals in print and on-line. However, it is possible to sketch out the general precepts that Nye values – and to watch as his thinking continues to evolve. Where there is a foreign policy crisis that affects the United States, you can be sure this scholar will have something to say about it. BIBLIOGRAPHYJapan Policy Research Institute, JPRI CRITIQUE, Volume V, Number 1, January 1998, http://www.jpri.org/jpri/public/crit5.1.html, accessed May 5, 2002. Nye, Jr., Joseph S. The Paradox of American Power: Why the World's Only Superpower Can't Go It Alone (New York: Oxford University Press, January 2002) Nye, Jr., Joseph S. Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory and History, 3d ed. (New York: Longman, 2000). Nye, Jr., Joseph S. Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power, (New York: Basic Books, 1990). Nye, Jr., Joseph S. Nuclear Ethics, (New York: The Free Press, 1986). Nye, Jr., Joseph S. Hawks, Doves and Owls: An Agenda for Avoiding Nuclear War, co-authored with Graham Allison and Albert Carnesale (New York: Norton, 1985). Nye, Jr., Joseph S. Governance Amid Bigger, Better Markets (Brookings Institution Press, August 2001) Nye, Jr., Joseph S. Governance in a Globalizing World, co-edited with John D. Donahue (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2000. Nye, Jr., Joseph S. democracy.com? Governance in A Networked World, co-edited with Elaine Ciulla Kamarck (Hollis Publishing, 1999) Nye, Jr., Joseph S. Why People Don’t Trust Government, co-edited with Philip D. Zelikow and Davic C. King (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997). Nye, Jr., Joseph S. “Military Deglobalization?” Foreign Policy (Jan.-Feb. 2001). Nye, Jr., Joseph S. “Globalization: What's New? What's Not? (And So What?)” [co-authored with Robert O. Keohane], Foreign Policy (spring 2000). Nye, Jr., Joseph S. “The US and Europe: Continental Drift?” International Affairs (January 2000). Nye, Jr., Joseph S. “Redefining America's National Interest: The Complexity of Values,” Current (September 1999). Nye, Jr., Joseph S. Dean of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, THE OBSERVER, March 31, 2002, http://www.observer.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4384507,00.html, accessed May 1, 2002. 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