Exceptionalism
The following are excerpts from an article, by Patrick M. Regan, who teaches political science at Binghamton University.
“Exceptionalism is the idea that superior military capability conveys rights and obligations commensurate with the ability to use overwhelming force. That might makes right, always and everywhere. The ideology of exceptionalism was borne of global political power, rooted in a paradigm of international politics, and engendered consequences on a global scale. That the United States is the world's most capable super power is not in dispute; that this condition demands of the U.S. a role of empire is.
The ideology of exceptionalism professed the right and obligation to prevent through force of arms, that which was deemed inappropriate by those in position to pass judgment. The alternative was to work with the world community through negotiation to achieve that which the majority deemed appropriate.
Regardless of U.S. military capability, without a shred of global credibility friend and foe alike will reject the idea of exceptionalism, and the U.S. will have little left with which to confront this challenge to its credibility. Impotence might be the gravest cost to the Bush administration's efforts toward empire built on this perverse ideology.
The far militarily superior Israelis cannot suppress Palestinian demands for justice; and the far militarily superior U.S. cannot subdue an Iraqi population that sees external occupation as the worst of all their short list of possible outcomes.
The question is no longer whether the ideology of exceptionalism has been discredited, but rather whether the Bush administration is aware enough to recognize what the rest of the world already knows, humble enough to admit it, and sufficiently capable to act on it.”
I am unfamiliar with the term exceptionalism, but upon reading the above the terms imperialism and messianic nationalism came to mind.
In 1966, Senator William Fulbright stated in "The Arrogance of Power”: "We are not God's chosen savior of mankind but only one of mankind's more successful and fortunate branches, endowed by our Creator with about the same capacity for good and evil, no more or less, than the rest of humanity."
In “Superpatriotism” Michael Parenti wrote : "Messianic nationalism is the path down which a nation can lose its soul. If doing whatever we judge fit to maintain our security necessitates wreaking death and destruction on other nations; this can have terrible repercussions for our own country.”
“Exceptionalism is the idea that superior military capability conveys rights and obligations commensurate with the ability to use overwhelming force. That might makes right, always and everywhere. The ideology of exceptionalism was borne of global political power, rooted in a paradigm of international politics, and engendered consequences on a global scale. That the United States is the world's most capable super power is not in dispute; that this condition demands of the U.S. a role of empire is.
The ideology of exceptionalism professed the right and obligation to prevent through force of arms, that which was deemed inappropriate by those in position to pass judgment. The alternative was to work with the world community through negotiation to achieve that which the majority deemed appropriate.
Regardless of U.S. military capability, without a shred of global credibility friend and foe alike will reject the idea of exceptionalism, and the U.S. will have little left with which to confront this challenge to its credibility. Impotence might be the gravest cost to the Bush administration's efforts toward empire built on this perverse ideology.
The far militarily superior Israelis cannot suppress Palestinian demands for justice; and the far militarily superior U.S. cannot subdue an Iraqi population that sees external occupation as the worst of all their short list of possible outcomes.
The question is no longer whether the ideology of exceptionalism has been discredited, but rather whether the Bush administration is aware enough to recognize what the rest of the world already knows, humble enough to admit it, and sufficiently capable to act on it.”
I am unfamiliar with the term exceptionalism, but upon reading the above the terms imperialism and messianic nationalism came to mind.
In 1966, Senator William Fulbright stated in "The Arrogance of Power”: "We are not God's chosen savior of mankind but only one of mankind's more successful and fortunate branches, endowed by our Creator with about the same capacity for good and evil, no more or less, than the rest of humanity."
In “Superpatriotism” Michael Parenti wrote : "Messianic nationalism is the path down which a nation can lose its soul. If doing whatever we judge fit to maintain our security necessitates wreaking death and destruction on other nations; this can have terrible repercussions for our own country.”
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