American Cultural Aggression will Lead to Hegemony Decline

【Abstract】The U.S. has been always calling itself a democratic and free country, however, while it spreads its cultural values, it comes across unexpected embarrassments, that is, other countries fight against the United States by American cultural values. The concept of freedom gives birth to the voice against the U.S., the awareness of equality becomes the tough barrier to its authoritarian power, the idea of self-restraint restricts its global expansion, and multiculturalism promotes the awakening of national consciousness.

【Key Words】cultural aggression;concept of freedom;awareness of equality;cultural diversity

Cultural Aggression

One country or an ethnic groups planned and purposeful action to conquer other countries is called aggression. In wars, one country forces another country to change its educational model, and the kids have to learn the language of the aggressors. This is cultural aggression. In peace time, the developed countries take over the cultural markets of developing countries, change their ethnic custom, and block their cultural heritage. This is also cultural aggression. Cultural aggression has two aims: one is economic benefits, that is, to make money by selling cultural products; the other is political benefits, that is, to promote its own culture and national ideology with the purpose of supporting its voice in international affairs.

U.S. scholars and officials believe that after World War II, the internal peace of western countries benefited from the democratic system. Democracy is the nature of peace-loving countries, so that they tend to use peaceful means to resolve conflicts and disputes between them. Thus, in the international community, in order to maintain peace in the world, the Western countries think it is necessary to impose non-democratic countries to promote democratic values. In their view, when the western democratic system is established in the whole world, the peace of the world can be at the same time achieved. There is no doubt that due to the wave of globalization, developing countries consciously or unconsciously accept some cultural ideas of the United States. In some scholars opinion, the spread of the cultural ideas of the United States is conducive for the U.S. of America to consolidate its hegemony. However, we cannot overlook another phenomenon. As the spread of American culture around the world, people have learned to use the concept of the U.S. to fight against the U.S., that is, the spread of American culture and the consolidation of U.S. hegemony is not necessarily proportional to the relationship.

The concept of freedom gives birth to the voice against the U.S.

In the international community, the U.S. calls itself “Freedom Messenger”. It flaunts the freedom of the U.S., and uses the freedom to accuse the human rights situations of developing countries. They tell the world that the U.S. is the most desirable free country. The U.S. itself not only has its own freedom, but also gives stress to other developing countries to force them give political freedom to their people. However, the U.S. did not expect that once the concept of freedom is accepted by people of other countries or regions, they will use the concept as a weapon to fight against the U.S.. During the U.S.s invasion to Iraq, the Arab television's "Four Diamond" - Al Jazeera, Abu Dhabi TV, Arab TV stations and the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation - with bold, real, open, quick attitudes to covered Iraq situation. For example, every Wednesday, the Al-Jazeera invited people from all sorts of works to discuss or debate about the situation in Iraq, the audience of the Arab countries can participate live through the hot line discussions, and they can express their own opinions in the program. Because their positions and angles are different from the U.S., they always held different attitudes and got contrary conclusions. The station signal covered throughout the Middle East, and even Arab immigrants in European and American countries are also very fond of these television programs. Many people knew more about the cruel, brutal, and illegal nature of the war through Arab countries TV programs, which stirred up anti-American sentiment of the people in the Arab world. U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz once strongly criticized Al-Jazeera and Arab TV reports on Iraq for their "bias" to the U.S., and he thought they committed a very biased reporting error, the consequences of doing so was to incite violent action to American soldiers.Thus, we can see that even some countries or ethnic groups accept the concept of freedom, they are not likely to be in the line of the U.S., and even they may be a threat to the U.S..

The awareness of equality becomes the tough barrier to authoritarian power of the U.S.

In domestic politics, the U.S. regards the equality is not different because of race, color, religion, and it regards equality as not only civil political rights, but also basic human rights. Therefore, the international law was built on the Western idea: sovereign states, no matter large or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, are equal and enjoy the same international rights. In recent years, the U.S. force other countries to accept this "equality of States before the law" concept by its cultural aggression.

Economically, the developing countries feel that, in the process of economic globalization, globalization, development and implementation of the globalization rules, all the countries in the international community should be the equal parties in international affairs. That can be called a real sense of globalization; Meanwhile, the globalization process should make all the members of the international community to achieve shared interests, but not just a tool for a few of western countries to serve their own interests.

Politically, they believe that international affairs should be settled through consultation by all countries equally, but never controlled or monopolized by one or a few big powers. In the international arena, countries should treat each other equally, and peaceful coexistence, mutual respect and mutually beneficial cooperation should be the aim and reality. The international disputes should be settled by peaceful negotiations, equal consultation and mutual understanding among related countries. It is forbidden to impose on other countries or harm the interests of other countries for a single country.

However, because of the strength advantage of the U.S. in the international community, it never considered itself to be equal with others in the international community. It is always condescending, insufferably arrogant, thinking that "enjoy unlimited privilege the completion of its destiny and saving the world.”

Therefore, it not only economically endangers the interests of developing countries in order to safeguard its own interests, but also in politics, it regards its own standards of right or wrong as judging other countries internal affairs in international community. The U.S. judges other countries recessive and civilization with the sole criterion of whether others are taking American cultural values or not.

The U.S. believes not only its own beliefs and ideals as a past, present and future of its own right, but also applies to other countries. In the "overweening" superior ideological hegemony, the foreign policies of the U.S. show the strong ability of hegemony. The U.S. government behavior deviating from the concept of their culture makes an increasing number of nations recognize the inequality of U.S. foreign policies are just to safeguard its own interests, but not to maintain international justice or world peace. This will undoubtedly reduce the prestige of the U.S., making it be questioned while dealing with international affairs in the international community. In this case, the United States encounters more difficulties and pays a higher price when it wants to force other nations to act in accordance with its orders. In the war to Iraq and the World Trade Organization's Cancun Ministerial Conference, developing countries increasingly use the concept of equality to safeguard the international community's principles of justice and legitimate right, and they oppose privileges and tyranny of the U.S. in the international community.

The idea of self-restraint restricts the global expansion of the U.S.

After World War II, with the evolution of international politics, the western modern concept of national autonomy has become a great and powerful weapon for the developing countries to break the shackles. Independence does not only mean a country's government can make orders and maintain the internal stability by using coercive power within countries; but also in the international community, the country can defend its rights and perform its functions under the principle of independence. Even the smallest country, is no longer a dependency of bigger ones. No countries should be colonies or satellite countries. They have the right to dominate their own destiny. The U.S., after the Cold War, especially since George W. Bush took office, keeps expanding its sphere of influence in various strategic locations of the world with the purpose of emulating the past British Empire and founding world peace on "the new system of the U.S." . However, at present, the idea of self-restraint has been accepted by all the countries in the world. In the international community, national sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries are the fundamental spirit of the UN Charter, and this is also the essence of democratization of international relations. Therefore, the following actions, such as, respecting national independence and sovereignty, respecting the right for other countries to choose their own social systems, developing roads and government forms; international affairs being jointly handled by all countries; every country's internal affairs being handled by itself; any country not using any excuse to interfere in other countries internal affairs and to undermine the sovereignty of other countries, violating the territory of other countries; putting more pressure on other countries, and using force, etc., should become internationally accepted rules. Therefore, the U.S., in order to implement its "imperial" ambitions in the international community, will meet a strong resistance. When the U.S. government outlined "the new world under the American system" , it forgot one crucial condition, —— the rule of international conditions during the era of the British Empire have undergone profound changes, especially the concept of autonomy has been accepted by the whole world. To rule the world today in accordance with the model of the British Empire will inevitably meet strong resistance from all countries. Taking the war in Iraq as an example, the United States wanted to take Iraq as a “breakthroughs transform in the Middle East, but, since the authoritarian Saddam Husseins liberation of the Iraqi, people have been expecting the self-restraint rather than the rules of the Americans. The the U.S.s occupation in the war sparked more and more Iraqi people to resist, and fight against the U.S.. Some of the Iraqi people said: "We do not need Saddam Hussein, also not need the American. We need Muslim to lead us to peace." In today's Iraq, attacks to the U.S. soldiers happen almost everyday, so that nearly one hundred young American soldiers become the victims of American transforming the Middle East. In order to achieve strategic interests in the Middle East, the cost of the U.S. is enormous. It not only affects the U.S.s democracy at home, but also shakes its "unipolar" strategic objective. There is no doubt that the popularity of the concept of national autonomy has become a major obstacle for the U.S. to extend its influence around the world.

Multiculturalism promotes the awakening of national consciousness

The United States is a "melting pot" or "salad bowl", preserving different cultures and customs brought by the international immigrants from other countries. Peaceful coexistence of diversity cultures is what the U.S. can boast to the world. In the international community, the U.S. has always considered itself as the protector of cultural diversity. Any country's internal ethnic conflicts are(下轉(zhuǎn)第125頁) (上接第124頁)likely to be highest in the United States as “genocide” , and the U.S. may give economic sanctions or military strike to the country. This kind of protection from the U.S. with such ulterior motives, in fact, can have two effects. On the one hand, it may strike some hostile forces to the U.S.; at the same time, on the other hand, it will aware other countries national consciousness and they will fight to protect their vital interests using the concept of cultural diversity of the U.S.. At present, in the international community, cultural diversity has moved beyond the limitations of ideology, constituting an important basis for the international community. Recognition and respect to different countries historical traditions, cultural backgrounds, social systems, ideology, lifestyle, and civilized style, allowing the peaceful coexistence of various systems and civilizations, harmonious competition, have become the main theme of the international community. However, whether is the cultural diversity in line with interests and strategic objectives of the U.S.? Definitely no! For example, the U.S. says it allows religious pluralism, and then the existence of Islamic fundamentalism should be protected. However, in fact, it aroused a strong anti-American sentiment in the Islamic countries. If the U.S. really advocates cultural diversity, it would tolerate the existence of other religions, but the existence of other religions will definitely strengthen the force of anti-America; but if it does not allow the existence, and continue to put the U.S. social system, cultural ideas and development model to Islamic countries, this cannot be called cultural diversity, but should be called as cultural dictatorship. And other countries can promote their own traditional cultures based on the idea of cultural diversity. Thus, they can use their cultures to resist the indoctrination of the U.S.. Therefore, the promotion of cultural diversity, not only failed to strengthen the influence of America, but to the contrary,will weaken the its influence in the field of world culture.

He who plays with fire gets burnt

To sum up, the American think that only western values and principles have access to the world, and western culture can strengthen America's "soft power" to protect their own safety. However, the actual difficulty is that the more American cultural influences other countries in the world, the more stress the U.S. will afford. Sheikh ? Younis ? Abdullah was thrown into prison because of his serious criticism to the U.S.: even the American occupation promotes the Iraqis, they still believe in and will believe in Islam, and refuse western values. It can be said that democracy and autonomy have become two sides of a coin. The democratic values that the U.S. is implementing help to consolidate the U.S. position in the world, but the values will be more harmful to its interests, and even accelerate the decline of U.S. hegemony. This should be an old saying: He who plays with fire gets burnt!

作者簡介:

姜大濤(1987-),安徽阜陽人,貴州大學(xué)外國語學(xué)院英語語言文學(xué)碩士