Word: moynihans
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...heels of economic modernization; nonetheless, it is still accepted that the contest over political systems in the future will be largely informed by the outcomes of "hard politics," or economic relations. In the "group of 77," the OAU and the United Nations, Third World leaders may test Moynihan's patience with denunciations of Western imperialism, interventionism, exploitationism and hegemonism. But at the same time, they have almost all come to accept, and begin to conform to, the realities of interdependence--in their dealings with Western-supported world banking organizations, with Western-based multinationals, and in bilateral deals with democratic powers...
...MOYNIHAN is familiar enough with this line of criticism. Thus in speaking of developing nations, he concedes that "it is time we commenced to treat them as equals, a respect to which they are entitled." Accenting the positive, he calls "for the United States deliberately and consistently to bring its influence to bear on behalf of those regimes which promise the largest degree of personal and national liberty." But it seems that for Moynihan, treating other nations as equals generally means telling them they are inferiors. Bringing influence to bear on behalf of virtuous regimes means spending one's time...
There are two functions this sort of chauvinistic breast-beating must serve. It is clearly cathartic: It makes the apostle of the American system feel 100 percent secure that he is in the right place, fighting the right fight. It must also account for much of Moynihan's popularity--this propensity for seeing the world in simple black and white--since Tocqueville himself observed that democracies love generalities, and have a hard time contemplating specifics. But it remains a mystery how Moynihan thinks it might ever win over what he should really be concerned about: the hearts and minds...
...Again, Moynihan does not want this to be just another set of political memoirs. Yet it is filled with deft and often merciless insights into many of his political adversaries. The most biting remarks are saved for Henry Kissenger. Moynihan finds it in himself to finish by calling him "a good friend," but through the book he provides some of the most acid elucidation of Kissinger's manipulative tactics yet to appear in print. Indeed, if there is one quality that pervades this volume, it is a relish in going on the defensive, something Moynihan readily admits. A good third...
THIS SOMEWHAT paranoid view of the world is not irrelevant to what is wrong with the Moynihan school of thought about international politics. By now, after we've witnessed some of the missteps and inconsistencies of the Carter administration's human rights policies, it should be evident that the attempt to translate values into policy must involve a careful process. It should mean distinguishing between values, deciding which ones we want to emphasize, and then examining how each might be rendered concrete in ways that promise lasting effects. This, in turn, requires a sensitivity to other peoples, and the specificity...