Norman — No longer the reigning global superpower, the future of America hangs in a question mark, said a duo of former U.S. national security advisers Monday night at a University of Oklahoma President’s Associates dinner.
Decades of self-indulgence during a “good life” defined by material possessions has crumbled the economic and political upperhand of the United States — intoxicated by its former power status — said Zbigniew Brzezinski, a former adviser to President Jimmy Carter, at OU’s Foreign Policy Conference.
“I think we’re in deep trouble. Really deep trouble,” he said of the underlying power shift.
But the United States wasn’t dethroned from its leading superpower hold overnight, said Gen. Brent Scowcroft, adviser to Presidents Gerald Ford and George Bush Sr.
While World War II devastated the rest of the world, the second war built the United States, leaving it the only one standing amidst the fallen, Scowcroft said.
Since then, however, the United States has been oblivious to the recovery of everyone else.
“It’s not that America power has gone up and down,” Scowcroft said. “We now have a globalized world.”
While Brzezinski expressed doubts about the United States’ ability to lead, Scowcroft said he doesn’t think the country is behind.
Both agreed, however, that the country needs a swift renewal of principles.
“We can no longer lead as we have,” said Scowcroft of the United State’s entitled mindset that expects others to blindly follow because it says.
Scowcroft said the U.S. must lead by example and the strength of its principles, which—once strong—need to be fortified.
While the task is “enormous,” Brzezinski said it can only be met by inspired leadership, and not just by one person. Success hangs on a united, bipartisan front of Congress and the entire country, he said.
“People need to inspire their legislators to do what is very much historically needed,” Brzezinski said, especially as China moves to the forefront.
OU President David Boren said during the dialogue that the rise of China has shaken the American people.
“My question is how long is going to take Americans to realize — especially in this part of the country — that we no longer call the shots,” said David Hooper, a retired attorney and former member of Norman’s City Council, of countries like China that have “grown up.”
This power exchange means the United States must be deliberate in redefining how it will operate on a global scale, said Brzezinski, who also said the country has a new obligation to work with others.
He said the U.S. and China have a history of interdependence and a gradual transition into co-leadership with China, which the Chinese support, would give the United States the opportunity to stabilize the Chinese and set its own house in order.
Scowcroft said since the era of President Richard Nixon, every president has realized that broadening a relationship with China is in America’s interest, adding that unlike Germany, China doesn’t want to overturn the natural order, it wants to profit from it.
“Well, so do we,” he said.
Despite the arrogance of the Chinese over its new role as a powerhouse, Scowcroft said the country is polluted with hurdles, besides its smog.
He said China, which currently relies mass producing exports for profit, needs an economic remodel, adding that the current system can’t be sustained by selling goods to other countries, particularly the United States who’s under fiscal turmoil.
“We’re very connected with the Chinese. Do we have to worry? Of course we have to worry. No one knows how China will evolve,” Scowcroft said. “But they have a frail system that can’t deal with its problems the same way we can.”
Nanette Light 366-3531 nlight@normantranscript.com
