Global Insurgency and the New Foreign Policy

摘要

Since the end of the Cold War, the foreign policy of Western nations has mirrored that of a previous age, in which the reformation and reconstruction of overseas societies was a central aim, stemming from a blend of self-interest, altruism, and belief in a civilizing mission. The West has come to define its own security as being intimately linked to security issues all over the world, because long-term challenges such as environmental degradation affect us all, and because so many security challenges have become trans-national, not least of all, terrorism. With the definition of security stretched beyond previous recognition, Western states believe that insecurity in distant lands directly and indirectly affects their own security in an ever more interconnected world. A major source of insecurity in other lands, repackaged in recent years in a new and virulent global brand, is insurgency; the violent activities of manifold non-state groups seeking to create new states or overthrow governments and entire secular societies. In the post-Cold War, post-9/11 environment, Western foreign policy has come to view countering-insurgency as a vital activity. This new foreign policy aims to create viable, prosperous, and friendly regimes that fit in to the international system forged and defended by the West. Pursuing this new foreign policy means intervention; not just in military terms, but through the employment of all the levers of state power.