John R. Bolton becomes Trump’s new National Security Advisor as of April 9, 2018. He will urge and coax Trump and others to adopt his views and policies on North Korea and Iran. We can read those views in his recent writings.
Just 35 days ago, Bolton made “The Legal Case for Striking North Korea First“. He definitely wants the U.S. to attack North Korea if his other two preferred routes fail, which are either unification of the two Koreas or a coup in North Korea and new leadership that abandons nuclear ambitions. He wrote that “The threat is imminent…” He wrote that the threat from North Korea passes Daniel Webster’s “necessity” test: “…the necessity of self-defense was instant, overwhelming, leaving no choice of means, and no moment of deliberation.” He concluded that such a strike is legal: “It is perfectly legitimate for the United States to respond to the current ‘necessity’ posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons by striking first.”
Rather than argue that the threat is not imminent and that a first strike is illegitimate; and rather than argue that Bolton ignores the consequences of such an attack, let’s assume that he is correct in his assessment of threat and ignore the first strike legitimacy issue. Then, what is Bolton really saying? What does this situation really mean?
The American Empire is like the Roman Empire. North Korea is like a Germanic tribe that Rome needs to attack and control. These empires cannot be maintained without making war against the “barbarians” (those peoples outside the empires) licking at their heels. The premise of Bolton’s policy is the maintenance and extension of U.S. power. He takes for granted that the Empire must not be checked by any opposing power, at any costs, even costs so high that the Empire declines and falls.
We need not accept this premise. Why should we make the Empire our primary value? The Empire is not a person. It has no brain, no nervous system and no emotions. It cannot express love or hate. It is an abstraction or concept. A small group of men and women control vast resources extracted from most of us, and they decide these matters of war and peace. They comprise what we call “empire”. Why should we accord them their powers? Why align ourselves with their ambitions to expand their powers over the planet, in the process killing millions of human beings? Why should we impose huge costs on ourselves and others for the sake of their (the Empire’s) power and control? There comes a point where the wave of Empire crests, a point at which the central forces are imposing costs upon us and others that far exceed any conceivable gains, just as a wave runs out of kinetic energy to maintain its height and force. Isn’t that point being reached when we have Bolton in a powerful position to advise Trump to attack North Korea? Isn’t he saying really that the U.S. government has reached a point in its expansion where it must impose huge costs simply to maintain a credible hold on its powers?
Bolton’s thesis doesn’t explain that the American Empire is already checked by such nuclear powers as Russia and China, for it is inconceivable that American forces are going to occupy Moscow or Beijing. And if China defends North Korea again in a new war in Korea, the U.S. won’t occupy Pyongyang either. Literally millions of Koreans, North and South, will be the victims. The costs will be etched in blood.
Bolton is saying that we Americans must place our Empire ahead of our own lives and those of others whom our leaders in control of American forces designate as imminent threats. Collateral killing of South Koreans and American armed forces in large numbers is a necessity, according to Bolton; for an attack on North Korea is bound to ignite a war. He is saying that our leaders can no longer maintain the dominance of American power worldwide without attacking countries like North Korea and Iran.
But this situation has arisen because of our own attempts to expand, for whatever reasons. We have stimulated the foreigners at our far-flung outposts. They are rising in opposition to our pressures and now they must be put down if the Empire is to survive and push further. It is only because Bolton assumes the continued existence of an expanding empire that it appears to him that America must strike North Korea before they can mount a threat to strike us. Furthermore, in his mind, even their threat is unacceptable, even if not acted upon, because that implies a balance of power that the Empire cannot contemplate.
In his August 21, 2017 article “Trump Must Stop North Korea from Striking American Soil”, Bolton makes this argument: “Kim Jong Un would unhesitatingly sell any technology it possessed, including nuclear, to anyone with hard currency. Iran is one such potential customer. Terrorist groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda, befriended by wealthy governments or individuals, could also be buyers.” He raises the specter of nuclear proliferation among the “barbarians”.
Has the American Empire stimulated these opposing forces? Do they boost their weaponry in reaction to the Empire’s own activities and policies? Must ever-increasing applications of American force be required to maintain the Empire’s reach and security? Is that what the politics of empire demand? If so, a uni-polar world of American exceptionalism is a vision that will fail us and fail the world’s peoples.
The alternative is plain: Make peace with Russia and China. Stop the sanctions. Bring the confrontations to an end. Create a different dynamic for the world. With the help and cooperation of Moscow and Beijing, peace can be made with Tehran and Pyongyang. Suppression of terrorist groups will fall into place if there is major power cooperation. A multi-polar world is a vision that’s superior to a uni-polar world.
Bolton stands for the uni-polar world, and that’s what justifies classing him with neo-conservatives. Obama stood for American exceptionalism too. Trump hasn’t defined himself consistently on this dimension. We are headed for a multi-polar world. So has said the U.S. National Intelligence Council back in 2008. This message hasn’t penetrated the Deep State, the neocons, John Bolton, and the U.S. government. It needs to.
10:29 am on April 6, 2018
