Post-Human AmericarnIt’s Not Just the Balkans…rnby Srdja TrifkovicrnIdeological assumptions that but two generations ago wouldrnhave been deemed eccentric, if not utterly insane or even demonic,rnnow rule the “mainstream.” The trouble is that normalrnpeople do not take madmen seriously enough. This works tornthe advantage of politicians—an inherently insane breed—andrntheir subjects’ attitude of “they can’t be serious” allows them tornsneer back, “Yes, we can!” America’s foreign-policy establishmentrnproves the point.rnhi a New York Times profile last September, Deputy Secretaryrnof State Strobe Talbott declared that the United States mayrnnot exist “in its current form” in the 21st century because thernvery concept of nationhood—here and throughout the world —rnwill have been rendered obsolete.rnNow, this will come as a surprise to all those Americans whornhave naively assumed that the purpose of foreign policy is to ensurernthe survival, security, and prosperity of the United Statesrnwithin the international system, rather than its eventual absorptionrnby the system. It should be noted that Talbott’s statementrnwas an exultant prophecy, not an impartial analyst’s assessment,rnand it came from the man who has defined, shaped, and executedrnthis administration’s foreign policy since the first day ofrnthis abysmal presidency.rnWliile his party’s presidential victory was sfill far from certain,rnTalbott wrote in Time (July 20, 1992) that he looks forward tornuniversal government run by “one global authority”;rnHere is one optimist’s reason for believing unity will pre-rnSrdja Trifkovic is the foreign affairs editor of Chronicles andrnthe executive director of the Lord Byron Foundation for BalkanrnStudies.rnvail. .. within the next hundred years.. . nationhood asrnwe know it will be obsolete; all states will recognize a single,rnglobal authority. . . . A phrase briefly fashionable inrnthe mid-20th century—”citizen of the world”—will havernassumed real meaning by the end of the 21st.rnThe key ideological foundation for Talbott’s beliefs was statedrnbluntly: “All countries are basically social arrangements, accommodationsrnto changing circumstances. No matter howrnpermanent and even sacred they may seem at any one time, inrnfact they are all artificial and temporary.”rnTo Talbott and his ilk, the United States, Serbia, East Timor,rnIreland, Russia, Iran, China, Cuba, etc., are merely transient,rnvirtual-reality entities. Owing allegiance to any of them is inherentiyrnirrational, and attaching one’s personal loyalty to i t -rnlet alone risking one’s life for its sake —is as absurd as worshippingrnicons or dressing for dinner. Atavistic sentiments may havernto be invoked for hoi polloi from the prairies who provide therncannon fodder for any given project, but this odious task is bestrnleft to the front men, such as presidents.rnLike Marx’s proletarian, Talbott knows of no loyalty to a concreterncoimtry. He could easily serve any—or indeed all—ofrnthem, if they can be turned into the pliable tools of his Wille zurrnMacht. In 1792, it could have been France, in 1917 Russia. Today,rnthe United States is the host organism of choice for two reasons.rnIt is immensely powerful, and its political system is susceptiblernto penetration by a rabidly anti-traditionalist andrndeeply anti-American worldview and political agenda.rnBy treating America as an ideological proposition rather thanrna real nation, Talbott and Company at least cannot be accusedrnof partiality when they treat other nations as either minions torn16/CHRONICLESrnrnrn