Abstract
As Obama took office at the beginning of 2009, several new figures attained important advisory positions in his administration. Anne-Marie Slaughter, former Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and now Director of Policy Planning in the State Department, is a prime example of the ‘change’ that has come to Washington. In recent years she has been part of a growing academic circle that views networks at the centre of international relations. At the same time, she has promoted the idea that the United States can be ‘the most connected country’ in such a world. By taking a closer look into the discourse of US supremacy and the current state-of-the-art in the theory of transnational networks, this article reveals the divergence between wishful thinking and reality in Slaughter's position. By analysing her position and introducing three case studies, we conclude that the complexity of power relations in a world of networks makes any assumption of US supremacy highly problematic. Some might ‘mirror’ the beliefs and values of America (Open Society Institute); some might only be a ‘prism’ of various different voices (Al-Jazeera); and some might fall totally outside state control to form ‘shadow networks’ (Khan Network). Ultimately, it is the belief in US exceptionalism that perpetuates the claim that the United States has ‘an edge’ in such a world, with potentially problematic consequences.
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Notes
In response to Slaughter's standpoint, Michael Barnett remarked that because Americans are ‘infused with the hubris of exceptionalism’ they are ‘psychologically not capable of having this moment of honesty’ (International Herald Tribune, 23 May 2007). Rieff (2008, p. 108) adds that ‘normalcy – the idea that the United States is a nation like any other, with its strengths and weaknesses, virtues and defects … – does not stand much chance of appealing to many Americans, left or right’. As Slaughter rejected accusations of exceptionalism, Rieff (2008, p. 108) noted further that ‘her secular grafting of the old-time progress narrative onto the actual history of the United States only works so long as she touts a self-loving vision of the political and moral essence of the country’. Lee Marsden goes further by arguing that exceptionalism is deeply grounded in religious sentiments and therefore to a certain extent even inherent in America's identity (Marsden, 2008).
Nordstrom originally coined this term to refer to international groups that provide public goods outside of the authority of the state, thereby building up their own local and regional legitimacy (for instance mafias or insurgent groups).
On the difficulties for US public diplomacy to convey its message, see for instance Marc Lynch (2003, p. 87) who describes that the appearance of US officials ‘all too often … only confirms the viewer's worst stereotypes’. Similarly, Cherribi (2009) uses the example of Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes's appearance on Al-Jazeera in 2005 to show that even a very eloquent performance might not lead to the expected (and desired) result.
See the tracking of the Khan network as chronicled at www.historycommons.org/project.jsp?project=aq_khan_nuclear_network.
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Scott-Smith, G., Baumgärtel, M. New paradigms, old hierarchies? Problems and possibilities of US supremacy in a networked world. Int Polit 48, 271–289 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/ip.2011.3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/ip.2011.3