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How will the next President handle “the rise of the rest”?
By Lauren | August 22, 2008
Continuing my series on ethical dilemmas facing the next President, let’s turn to a trend abroad that’s likely to affect all of our lives. In his new book, The Post-American World, author Fareed Zakaria describes a world in which the United States will be an important, but no longer dominant, player in international economics, politics and cultural development. Zakaria doesn’t predict an American decline; rather, he argues that the growth of other nations such as India, China, Brazil, and Russia will overtake America’s successes, making us just one of many powerful countries that must co-exist in a rapidly changing world.
In my experience, Americans tend to presume that our country has a natural, perhaps even God-given, right to dominate world culture and events. America has been the land of opportunity for people from less prosperous nations, a beacon of hope for citizens of repressive dictatorships, and the home of a fun, funky, populist culture that has enchanted youngsters around the world. (For example, McDonald’s has become the icon of American cuisine around the world, offering consistent if not especially excellent food at reasonable prices. It’s not haute cuisine, but it doesn’t have to be.) We’ve been on top for so long, Americans may take our superpower status for granted.
Zakaria forsees a world in which other countries, having learned from our successes, ascend to meet us face to face. If that happens, America will no longer be able to reign by fiat. Our continuing influence will have to be earned through careful diplomacy, reasonable positions, and behavior becoming a nation that leads by example, not by birthright or force.
How will the next President conduct himself as the “leader of the free world”? Would it be ethical to force continued American dominance on the rest of the world? Would it be ethical for the United States to continue gorging on the world’s resources, especially when other countries now have both the need and the means to compete with us for them? And if we sometimes lose that competition, how should the next President ethically respond?
Would your Presidential candidate have the courage to address this issue? If so, what’s his position, and are you comfortable with it? You decide.
Topics: Business Ethics |