Bush against global capital?

[Chris Burford <cburford@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Louis Proyect gives the full reference to the Wallerstein article, which
begins.


> No doubt, George W. Bush thinks he is in the forefront of those sustaining
> the world capitalist system. No doubt, a large part of the world left
> thinks that too. But do the great capitalists think so? That is far less
> clear. A major warning signal has been launched by Morgan Stanley, one of
> the world's leading financial investor firms, in their Global Economic
> Forum. Stephen Roach writes there that a "US-centric world" is
> unsustainable for the world-economy and bad in particular for the United
> States. He specifically takes on Robert Kagan, a leading neo-con
> intellectual, who has been arguing that American hegemony can only
> increase, particularly vis-a-vis Europe. Roach could not agree less. He
> sees the present world situation as one of "profound asymmetries" in the
> world-system, one that cannot last.


I noted in Hardt's radio interview with Doug, that Hardt also suggested
that the militaristic policy of the Bush administration was not in
conformity with the overall interests of global capital, and was probably a
period of exception. For one thing, coercion is an inefficent form of
imperialism because it does not command consent.

Certainly it is surprising that Bush did not prepare public opinion on 20th
May for a future invasion of Cuba, and is now openly negotiating with North
Korea.

Here is another article today from the former US Ambassador to NATO from
1993 to 1998 and now a senior adviser at the Rand Corporation, Robert E
Hunter, in today's International Herald Tribune:

"Bush must ease G-8 frictions"

http://www.iht.com/articles/97445.html


Chris Burford
London