Professor ZI Zhongyun Spoke on Unirule Gengdan Forum
Author:Unirule
Time：2014-11-04 14:14:27 Clicks:
September 24th, Professor ZI Zhongyun was invited by Unirule Institute of Economics and Gengdan Institute of Beijing University of Technology to speak at Gengdan Forum. The topic was “Post-Cold War US International Actions and Their Influence on the World”.
Gengdan Institute of Beijing University of Technology is in long-term strategic partnership with Unirule Institute of Economics. In order to provide a theoretical and academic platform for the students and teachers at Gengdan Institute, Unirule has been working together with Gengdan Institute to invite famous scholars to speak at the Institute.
Professor ZI Zhongyun introduced a series of policies and trends of the US in the post-Cold War era and analyzed the causes. She pointed out that such actions did not direct the US back to the path of peace, neither did it direct money into peaceful constructions. But such actions led the US to a strong stand in international affairs in order to solidify its own dominance and avoid other countries’ supremacy.
After the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the US’s enemy in the Cold War was gone. Two parties with distinctive vision emerged in the US: the pro-peace forces and the hardliners. With the hardliners took the upper hand and the 9・11 terrorist attack, an anti-terrorism war was waged under Bush’s administration in Afghanistan. Subsequently, warfare was also taken by the US against the Sadam regime in Iraq in the hope of establishing a new democracy. Many criticized the US for making the anti-terrorism action a war in a sovereign state, which should be under the jurisdiction of police forces instead of the army. For the Iraqi war, nationalists criticized the US for invasion. Professor ZI Zhongyun thought it was a wrong strategic move for the US from a pragmatic perspective, because the US was not in control of the events and it could not avoid a reoccurrence of a Vietnam War. This result no only led to more chaos in Iraq which fostered terrorism, but also traumatized the US. Even though the Obama administration promised to withdraw troops, the status quo made it very hard.
The dilemma faced by the US is also shown in the conflict between the US and Russia. After the collapse of the former Soviet Union, many small Eastern European countries were leaning toward the US. After years of suppression, they joined the NATO. Even though the US tried to avoid too much eastern expansion of the NATO, the boundary of the NATO was still pushed by the US and Europe to the very doorway of Russia.
US’s Pacific strategy was focused on its attitude and action towards China. Many thought China’s neighboring countries were the war agents of the US. But the reality defies this presumption. Professor ZI pointed out that these countries built a strong tie with the US out of fear of China’s rising. In terms of the issues circling the Diaoyu Islands are historical issues instead of issues stirred by the US. The US does not want to play a decisive role in solving these issues, either. But the US does fear the rise of China
