Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Since the beginning of 1997, Beijing and the man it appointed to be Hong Kong's chief executive, C. H. Tung, have been rewriting Hong Kong's laws to put new restrictions on political activity and free speech. The Hong Kong canary is already short of breath as the PRC coal mine closes in around it. By the time we wake up to find that political liberties have been extinguished, it will be too late.
These days there are no more double standards about dictatorships. If they're "emerging markets" for U.S. exports, we love them all. In this era, foreign policy is made by the Commerce Department and the U.S. trade representative - their job is to pry open markets, not societies. In places like Indonesia, you can't do both. President Suharto is the Indonesian market.
The Chinese leadership views the world today in much the same way Kaiser Wilhelm II did a century ago: The present world order serves the needs of the United States and its allies, which constructed it. And it is poorly suited to the needs of a Chinese dictatorship trying to maintain power at home and increase its clout abroad.
Since 1989, the US sponsored a wide array of assistance programs aimed at helping the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union transition to capitalism and democracy. The worrying trend away from market reforms and liberal democracy in a number of countries of the region has fueled debate as to whether the assistance effort has fallen short and, if so, why.
When, where, and how should the United States use military force? Drawing upon twelve recent case studies--including Bosnia, Somalia, Panama, Grenada, Haiti, and the Gulf War--Richard Haass suggests political and military guidelines for potential U.S. military interventions ranging from peacekeeping and humanitarian operations to preventive strikes and all-out warfare.