Respect: It’s Not Just for America

You can't request more than 20 captcha challenges without solving them. Your previous captcha challenges were flushed.

 

Steven VanDeLaarschot

 

Undergraduate/Political Science

 

It is amazing sometimes when you consider what little things grab people's attention. As President Obama visited Japan he met with the Japanese Emperor Akihito and bowed to the emperor like any other person would when meeting the emperor. I, despite being the political junkie that I am, would never have heard about this if not for the massive outcry that came from many conservatives when they heard that President Obama bowed to an emperor.

 

To me this issue seems overblown and a great big fuss about nothing. I felt the same way when conservatives were outraged when President Obama bowed to King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia. But apparently this issue won't die quietly so it’s time to set the record straight. First of all, if any other American citizen, including all you readers and myself, were to meet with King Abdullah or Emperor Akihito or the Queen of England we would bow or curtsy as protocol dictates. It is a sign of respect for the position held by that person and it does not matter that America doesn't have any nobles or aristocracy, we can still respect the nobility of other nations.

 

Many people believe that America is the greatest nation on Earth. I will not touch the moral argument, but instead I will focus on the political side of that claim. Truthfully, America is a superpower within a one superpower world which by definition makes America the most powerful nation in the world. But the realities of the world today mean that military power isn't everything, unless we want to go around starting wars with everybody and we don't. Today's reality takes into account economic power in a big way.

 

The United States has the largest economy in terms of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), but we should look at who comes next on the list. The CIA World Factbook listed in 2008 roughly 228 countries in terms of GDP and topping the list is, of course, America, but America is followed by China, Japan, India, and Germany in that order. Notice that the Japanese economy is in third place, near America. In addition, Japan's new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, has been assertive about Japan being treated as an equal partner to America and not just an eternally obedient ally. While Saudi Arabia ranks 23 on the list and the Saudi economy doesn't rival America's, we must not forget that the Saudis provide America with a lot of its oil and America is addicted to oil right now.

 

Whether we like it or not we must face the fact that the world is changing. Other nations are growing and becoming more powerful, with China and India being two of the greatest examples. Simply by the virtue of their insanely large populations (over a billion people for each of the two countries) once China and India develop to the same extent that America has they will become the two greatest economies in the world. Their size alters the scale with which everyone else is measured. China has been hailed as having a meteoric rise and for industrializing at a breakneck speed, despite the fact that hundreds of millions of Chinese are still living in poverty.

 

Other countries are regional powers economically without the colossal impact of a population of over a billion people. Japan was ranked last year as the fourth greatest economy and Brazil was ranked tenth. European countries hold four of the top ten world economies and the European Union has a combined GDP that is greater than that of America's. Regional powers are on the rise around the world and America needs to learn to respect those powers in order to get things done. We need partners, we cannot just dictate our desires to the rest of the world and expect them to be carried out due to our position as a superpower.

 

An example of the need for the support of regional powers can be seen by looking at Afghanistan. While trying to accomplish our goals, America has the support of NATO and permission to move supplies through Russia to our soldiers in Afghanistan. America is also working with Pakistan as well because there is no way to solve Afghanistan without Pakistan due to the Pashtun belt that straddles the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Russia, Pakistan, NATO, their support is crucial for America to be able to accomplish it's goals concerning Afghanistan.

 

In order to receive the support of regional powers America needs to respect them. If it is protocol to bow to the emperor of Japan or the king of Saudi Arabia when you meet them, then bow to them and show respect for their station. It is a small matter that I am amazed to see causing so much outrage among conservatives. I don't care if the leaders of other nations don't bow to the emperor of Japan, we can do it and show our respect for Japan and their emperor. We say very often that America is like a shining city upon a hill that draws others to it because we are so great, well let's show how great we are by respecting others.

 

 

Sources:

“Outrage in Washington Over Obama’s Japan Bow.”  Yahoo News. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091116/pl_afp/japanusdiplomacyasiaobama

 

CIA-The World Factbook Country Comparison: National Product. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2001rank.html



The Flip Side is a publication dedicated to providing an alternative media outlet and forum on the UW-Eau Claire campus by welcoming the writings, views, and involvement of all students and community members. By reporting on news, perspectives, and opinions on all issues, we seek to develop and maintain our freedom of speech.

All published material remains the property of the individual contributors. Opinions of the writers and contributors are their own. Articles found within, in no way reflect the opinion of The Flipside Press as a whole. The Flipside Press rserves the right to reject any advertising, articles, letters, images, or other material submitted for publication.