ABSTRACT
American international relations scholar Joseph S. Nye Jr contends that the contemporary period of history is marked by the fact that the United States has reached the zenith of its international power and influence. No power, except for that of ancient Rome, has so dominated the international landscape, inspiring a mixture of awe, fear, envy and suspicion from the world community of nations.2 Importantly, senior policy-makers in the US State Department and the Pentagon have for some time been engaged in a hotly contested debate over how American power should be exercised. Should US power and influence attempt to enmesh and blend its policy agendas within the broader international community through a consensus approach based on multilateral forums?3 Or, should the United States, more controversially, project its power and influence without the support of multilateral forums which by their very nature, would seek to check and balance US power and could ultimately thwart US national interests? While this critical debate is far from over, it seems from America’s current situation with Iraq, that those who favour a more unilateralist approach are winning the policy debate in Washington. But in spite of unilateralism being an ascendant policy position, America still needs the support of other countries, especially its close allies, in order for it to legitimise its aims and objectives internationally, no matter how single-mindedly ‘US-orientated’ they may seem.
