America the Almighty : The Maverick Hyperpower

by DAMOURS STEPHEN L.

• ISBN13: 9781594533495
• ISBN10: 1594533490
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-06-01
• Publisher: Airleaf

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	iii
The World's Greatest Problem	1	(36)
Are We ``the Good Guys''?	6	(5)
Treaties, the Bedrock	11	(4)
Patriotism and Tribalism	15	(5)
``Win-Win'' or ``Win-Lose''?	20	(5)
Is ``Human Nature'' the Problem?	25	(3)
Trashing Our Values	28	(3)
Moral Progress: Where Moral and Practical Converge	31	(2)
Connecting the Dots	33	(2)
Two Views of the World	35	(2)
The Structures of Greed and Tribalism	37	(13)
The Pentagon of Power	39	(2)
Still, Why?	41	(5)
The Neoconservative Empire	46	(2)
Can We Change the Picture?	48	(2)
Human Wrongs---Oppression of Women	50	(20)
U.S. Action on the Treaty	52	(2)
What's at Stake?	54	(2)
The Grim Picture Worldwide	56	(3)
Impact of CEDAW	59	(1)
Treaty Provisions; Senate Opposition	60	(3)
Who Supports, Who Opposes CEDAW?	63	(2)
The Treaty in Action: How it Works	65	(1)
Constitutions	65	(2)
The Courts	67	(1)
So Why Does U.S. Ratification Matter?	68	(2)
Human Wrongs -- The Plight of Children	70	(28)
The U.S. Versus Justice	72	(1)
The Treaty	73	(2)
Family Values	75	(6)
Rules, Penalties, and Spanking	81	(1)
Spanking In the Treaty	82	(4)
Fundamentalism Versus Christianity	86	(1)
Does the Treaty Make a Difference?	87	(2)
Our Unrepresentative Senate	89	(2)
Down With Treaties!	91	(2)
The Right to Kill Children	93	(1)
Bright Spots	94	(1)
Food for Education	95	(1)
So What's Next?	96	(2)
Above the Law	98	(27)
Nixing Political Abuse	100	(5)
Why a Permanent Global Court?	105	(1)
Fears and Worries	106	(2)
The Colossus and the Court	108	(3)
Justice Prevails -- For a Moment	111	(2)
A Citizen's Voice	113	(1)
Going Back On Our Word	114	(1)
Protection Racket -- The ``Hague Invasion Act''	114	(1)
Making War on the Court	115	(6)
Invincible Ignorance?	121	(4)
A Nicotine Cliff-Hanger	125	(9)
What's a Few Million Deaths?	126	(2)
Tribalism and Greed	128	(2)
The Costs of Obstructionism	130	(1)
A Surprise Reversal	131	(3)
Fiddling While Earth Burns	134	(32)
Causing the Problem	139	(2)
What Will It Take to Change?	141	(2)
Muddying the Waters	143	(4)
Suppressing the Facts	147	(1)
Government of, by, and for the Industry	148	(3)
Not Saving the World at Rio	151	(3)
Not Saving the World at Kyoto	154	(5)
A Hydrogen Smoke Screen	159	(1)
Is There a Future?	160	(6)
Violence and Coercion or Leadership?	166	(56)
Iraq: A Threat or a Temptation?	167	(6)
Apocalypse Now	173	(3)
Leadership Versus Bullying: Back to Basics	176	(1)
Killing: What's It For?	177	(2)
How Much is Too Much?	179	(4)
Dazed and Confused	183	(3)
The Empire of Arrogance	186	(2)
Coercion as Policy	188	(1)
Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Temptations	189	(1)
Wagging the Civilian Dog	190	(1)
Treaty Aversion: Who's Really in Charge?	191	(1)
Clinging to Landmines, A Prickly Precedent	192	(4)
Nuclear Proliferation: Soft on Nukes	196	(4)
Ballistic Missiles, Carriers of Doom	200	(5)
Double Standards and Bad Faith: Inspecting Weapons of Mass Destruction	205	(4)
Dirty Bombs, the Terrorist's Dream Weapon	209	(3)
Fear, Domination, or Pork?	212	(3)
Pigs at the Trough, or Pentagon Pork	215	(2)
The Global Policeman	217	(1)
Nightmare In a Nutshell	218	(4)
The United Nations --- Angel or Devil?	222	(39)
The UN Phobia	223	(4)
Why?	227	(1)
How It All Started	228	(6)
What's Right With the UN?	234	(2)
Restraining War and Negotiating Peace	236	(1)
Peacekeeping	237	(2)
Humanitarian Interventions	239	(3)
What's Wrong With the UN?	242	(8)
The UN: What Americans Really Think	250	(2)
The National Sovereignty Disconnect	252	(2)
Horrors! UN Taxes?	254	(1)
A Major Step Forward	255	(3)
For Civilization: Is There a Future?	258	(3)
An Unnecessary War	261	(63)
A Year Later	263	(2)
Preventive Attacks: Religion, History, and Pop Culture	265	(1)
Inspectors Return to Iraq	266	(2)
Worldwide Anger	268	(1)
Painted into a Corner	269	(6)
Colin Powell Weighs In	275	(4)
In Prospect: Winning the War, Losing the Peace	279	(2)
An American Empire?	281	(2)
Hubris and Aggression as Guides to Policy	283	(2)
Straining Alliances and Undermining the UN	285	(4)
Motivating Terrorism and Alienating Arab Allies	289	(3)
A Rosy Vision of Iraq's Future	292	(3)
Likely Postwar Realities: The View from Before the War	295	(3)
A Balsa Wood ``Smoking Gun''	298	(2)
Who Are We Trying to Embarrass?	300	(1)
What Are We Trying to Do?	301	(4)
Malice in Blunderland: Tribalism at Work	305	(5)
Tribalism in the Media	310	(6)
Fallacious Assumptions	316	(4)
The Shoe on the Other Foot	320	(4)
The War After the War	324	(59)
Hawks' Vindication?	327	(1)
The UN---Not So Irrelevant	328	(1)
A Close-to-Home Analogy	329	(2)
Responsibility	331	(1)
A Month After Major Combat Operations	332	(3)
A Year After Major Combat Operations	335	(3)
Who Has Legitimacy?	338	(1)
Major Trouble	339	(2)
The Disappearing Rationale	341	(3)
Liberal Theories on War Motivation	344	(1)
Who Controls the Spoils---The Oil?	345	(3)
Where Are Those Weapons of Mass Destruction?	348	(2)
David Kay's Bombshell	350	(2)
Clueless in Washington	352	(1)
Carnegie Endowment: We Were Misled on WMD	353	(2)
Was The War Good Military Strategy?	355	(2)
Giving al Qaeda a Recruitment Tool	357	(4)
Abusing Prisoners	361	(9)
Democracy or Impending Civil War?	370	(2)
A Probable Future	372	(1)
Can the UN and NATO Help?	373	(1)
Are there solutions?	374	(4)
``Loosing'' in Order to Win	378	(1)
The Longer Term	379	(4)
Design Specs for a Better World	383	(33)
Intractable Problems	384	(1)
Anarchy or Order?	385	(5)
The Great Disconnect	390	(1)
Beginning to Re-Connect	391	(2)
An Easy, Half-Right Answer	393	(2)
What Actually Works	395	(2)
The Solution's Driving Force	397	(1)
Specific Institutions	398	(1)
The Bigger Picture: A Thought Experiment	399	(2)
Moments of Opportunity	401	(2)
Design Concepts	403	(5)
Citizens Making Change	408	(3)
A Momentous Challenge	411	(2)
Summation: Our Values, Our Power, Our Choice	413	(3)
Index	416