[Marxism] New Democrats radical interventionism

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Counterpunch, February 18, 2004

"It's Time to Get Over It"
Kerry Tells Anti-War Movement to Move On
By MARK HAND

Researchers and investigative reporters are fascinated with the
neoconservatives, that group of American empire peddlers who turned
George W. Bush into a junkie war criminal. A similar group, the New
Democrats, has been pushing its own dangerous brand of U.S. hegemony but
with much less fanfare.

The leading mouthpiece for the New Democrats' radical interventionist
program could be our next president. John Kerry, the frontrunner in the
quest for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, has been
promoting a foreign policy perspective called "progressive
internationalism." It's a concept concocted by establishment Democrats
seeking to convince potential backers in the corporate and political
world that, if installed in the White House, they would seek to preserve
U.S. power and influence around the world, but in a kinder, gentler
fashion than the current administration.

In the battle to control the American empire, the neocons have in their
corner the Partnership for a New American Century while the New
Democrats have the Progressive Policy Institute. Come November, who will
get your vote? Coke or Pepsi?

In fall 2000, PNAC released Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy,
Forces and Resources for a New Century. It's a blueprint for
"maintaining global U.S. preeminence, precluding the rise of a great
power rival, and shaping the international security order in line with
American principles and interests."

In fall 2003, members of PPI joined with other tough-minded Democrats to
unveil Progressive Internationalism: A Democratic National Security
Strategy, a 19-page manifesto that calls for "the bold exercise of
American power, not to dominate but to shape alliances and international
institutions that share a common commitment to liberal values."

The New Democrats don't begrudge the Bush administration for invading
Iraq. They take issue with the Bush administration's strategy of
refusing to invite key members of the international community to the
invasion of Iraq until it was too late. The neocons' unilateralist
approach, the New Democrats believe, will do ultimately harm U.S.
political and economic dominance around the world.

"We are confident that a new Democratic strategy, grounded in the
party's tradition of muscular internationalism, can keep Americans safer
than the Republicans' go-it-alone policy, which has alienated our
natural allies and overstretched our resources," the New Democrats say
in their foreign policy manifesto. "We aim to rebuild the moral
foundation of U.S. global leadership by harnessing America's awesome
power to universal values of liberal democracy. A new progressive
internationalism can point the way."

full: http://www.counterpunch.org/hand02182004.html
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