Mistaken Area of US 'Canonical Form' (Monograph)Taking the risk of being isolated in the international community, the United States insists on developing so-called NMD (national missile defense) and TMD (theater missile defense) systems for the purpose of supporting its global hegemony in the 21st century through new nuclear arms expansion, and weakening and offsetting other countries' limited nuclear defending and attacking capability.What it is after in doing so is common knowledge, just as the Chinese saying goes, "What General Sima Zhao is up to is only too evident". But the United States advertises this as aiming to prevent missile attacks to be launched by so-called "rascal countries" or by terrorist forces against it and its allies! This strategic decision of the United States affects the world situation and the relations between big powers. But what the United States relies upon is the so-called "canonical form of rascal countries".! What does canonical form mean? In the category of science and philosophy, the canonical form means a kind of model, example, mold, hypothesis, theory, etc. for understanding things. Its function is, from a certain angle, to turn complexity (the actual world) into simplicity (the theoretical world), thereby establishing a kind of new theoretical system. In the US sociological studies, people are most fond of the canonical form. Any discipline which contains no canonical form is simply inconceivable. The canonical form has run rampant in the studies of politics (including international politics) and international strategy. The canonical form principle is common in the field of pure sociology, or, in other words, in the field of academic training, it is, after all, regarded as an important method for the development of sociology and a way for cultivating students' comprehensive ability (not knowledge). However, when people use the canonical form to present a policy, or seek a basis for a policy, if they oversimplify the reality and try their utmost to pursue an ordinary theory established on a fairly hypothetical basis, then, they will achieve just the opposite result-generating danger. Among some policy-oriented research institutions and scholars of the United States, the misuse of the canonical form has become a very common phenomenon. On the one hand, the policy-oriented research institutions and their staff members have to rely on policy studies for a living, whereas one of their main clients is the unwieldy and complicated government organization; on the other hand, government departments as the clients do not need the kind of academic theses, what they need are only research reports of the canonical form which are simple and clear, i.e., easy to understand and operate. Research institutions, called think tanks, possess large numbers of research personnel trained in the canonical form, who, of course, need to provide the decision-making authorities with policy-related suggestions and reference materials of a canonical form. The role of these think tanks is vary significant in the US political affairs, although they must present themselves as people "without party affiliation, independent and non-profit-making", in fact, they have a thousand and one ties with various interested groups, or they themselves are interested groups. Therefore, think tanks often have to produce (invent) some canonical forms, so as to motivate and influence public policies. Since the conclusion of the Cold War, a large batch of canonical forms have been invented by these think tanks for the American foreign policies, for instance, "conflict of civilization", "democracy and peace", "China threat", the "rascal countries or personal canonical forms" are only the newest kind of the "US-made" canonical product for its foreign policy. The above-mentioned canonical forms seem to be first seriously discussed, debated and proved among politicians and strategists, then are made fully packed up and become popular in an imposing manner through the pursuit of "sensational effect" by the mainstream opinion (news media). For example, the "canonical form of rascal countries" has today been widely accepted by the Americans both in power and not in power. In formulating its foreign policy, it is impossible for the US government to completely use a certain canonical form as its guide, but, as a matter of fact, US foreign policies have been deeply influenced by the above-mentioned canonical form. With respect to the "canonical form of civilization conflict", according to this form, epochal "civilization" after the Cold War is most important in the world politics, the United States has to face the "threat" posed to it by Russia, China as well as the Islamic world. In other words, Russian, Chinese and Islamic civilization has to be in conflict with the Western world with the United States as the center, this is because there is cultural difference between them. With respect to "the canonical form of democracy and peace", it is asserted in this form that in the world "democratic community" formed by democratic countries, there is no war between them, so long democracy is promoted, world peace is expectable. In reality, the canonical form is directed mainly against Russia and China. Take Russia for instance, the United States, on the one hand, tries to woo, split up and pacify Russia in the name of "democracy" (such as the recent Moscow talks held between Clinton and Putin), on the other hand, it makes use of "democracy" to attack and isolate Russia, saying that Russia is not a democratic country in its real sense, it is only in the process of democratization, and a country in the democratization process is very dangerous. In fact, the various canonical forms produced by the United States after the Cold War have great limitation. In strict academic sense, they have been refuted by many people, particularly by non-American scholars. Even some related American scholars are rethinking of these canonical forms. For example, Samuel P. Huntington, the initiator of the "canonical form of civilization conflict", and politics professor of Harvard University, recently admitted frankly: Since the theory of civilization conflict was put forward, the development of world politics in recent years has not proved the effectiveness of this canonical form, perhaps this canonical form does not necessarily have its universality. As a scholar, Professor Huntington pointed out apprehensively that so-called canonical form actually aims to satisfy the demand of US policy makers who need to rely on a certain theory to control the world situation, but the canonical form oversimplifies the reality. In fact, some seemingly rational policies are actually not rational. For example, the "canonical form of rascal countries" is an expression of the enemy possessed by the Devil who lacks "syndrome" and "empire malady", and is a new form employed by US war industry interested group to control the country's politics, if the new US government which will soon assume office inherit the legacy of these "canonical forms", it will not only cause the United States to continue its advance along the wrong path, but will also pose real threat to world peace and prosperity. |
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