The Republican administration of the United States has made dramatic adjustment to its foreign and defense policies since it took office early this year. As it promoted unilateralism in the world, US-Russian relations and Sino-US relations plunged intotrouble, while relations between the United States and Europe werein a disaccord.
But the September 11 terror attacks resulted in a turning pointfor the adjustment of US foreign policy. The attacks have destroyed the sense of security for most Americans who had long held that the US territory was immune from external attacks since the founding of the United States of America in 1776. The attacks have also caused a setback to US confidence in safeguarding its own security. As a result, the US government began to make dramatic changes to its foreign policy and security strategy.
Over more than three months, anti-terrorism has become a core of American diplomatic activities and thus, big powers of the world have taken active diplomatic activities with a focus on the issue. The adjustment of foreign policy of the United States, theonly superpower in the world, has undoubtedly influenced relationsamong big powers, especially those between the United States and other major players of the world. There emerged some noticeable changes which have been reflected in the following.
First, the September 11 attacks have resulted in the formation of a world-wide anti-terrorism alliance. Big state powers have, for the first time, reached consensus on issues concerning security since the end of the Cold War, while beginning to strengthen cooperation and coordination in anti-terrorism.
After the September 11 attacks, both American allies and non-alliance counties expressed support for the US moves of fightingagainst terrorism. The United States has strengthened cooperationwith its allies as well as some non-alliance countries such as Russia and China. It is unprecedented in the history of contemporary international relations that the international anti-terrorism alliance include all the permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations and political and economic powers such as Germany and Japan as well as some regional powers.
Second, cooperation in the field of anti-terrorism among big powers has become an activator in the improvement of their relations. The United States has cemented its relations with Russia and China respectively, while easing its disparities with its allies.
Since the September 11 attacks, Russia has shown an active attitude toward Washington's anti-terrorism moves. The Russian side provided full support to the United States in terms of offering large amounts of intelligence and opening its territorialair space. It also backed the Northern Alliance of Afghanistan, while coordinating with other member states of the Commonwealth Independent States (CIS) in allowing US troops to enter Central Asia. On the eve of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit meeting held in October in Shanghai, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a Russian withdrawal of military bases inVietnam and Cuba.
As a return, the US side stopped condemnation of Russia's military actions in Chechnya and agreed to consider a lift of trade barriers imposed on Russia according to the 1974 Jackson-Vanik Amendment, while supporting Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Meanwhile, the process of arms reduction of the United States and Russia has moved forward smoothly, with both sides promising to reduce nuclear warheads by two-thirds separately. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said that for US-Russian relations, not only the Cold War has ended, but also a decade following the Cold War has ended.
Sino-US ties have also improved. After the September 11 attacks, Chinese President Jiang Zemin phoned his U.S. counterpartGeorge W. Bush immediately to express condolences to the American people, while stressing China's consistent official stance of condemnation of and opposition to any terrorist activities. Both leaders held talks during the Shanghai APEC summit meeting, agreeing to be devoted to the development of constructive relations and cooperation between the two countries. The meeting between Jiang and Bush has laid a basis for stable growth of the bilateral ties between China and the United States.
Meanwhile, differences between the United States and its alliesin the sectors of environmental protection and missile defense have weakened as Britain, Germany and Japan were active in supporting the US anti-terrorism activities.
And third, big powers have redefined the connotation of national security and adjusted their strategies for national security. Therefore, the relationship in terms of security between China and America as well as that between Russia and America have improved, while the military alliance with its alliesis no longer the only important relationship for the United States.
The September 11 attacks have changed the sense of threat and the sense of security of the Americans. While considering "potential threat," the Unite States has had to consider practical threat. Also, while considering threat from a state, it has had to take a threat from a non-state entity into consideration. To deal with the challenge, the United States has realized that it must obtain cooperation and support from other countries, particularly some non-alliance countries including China and Russia. It has come to understand that the relationship of alliance is not the only way or the best way to ensure American security. As the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has expressed the will to set up a new type of relationship with Russia, some experts have even said that NATO's role as a militaryalliance would gradually weaken and the Western military alliance was expected to achieve transformation to a political organizationaimed at security.
However, the September 11 attacks have not weakened the comprehensive national power of America, nor have they changed thebalance of power or the current world structure with one superpower and several other powers.
Firstly, the terror attacks have neither changed the global strategy adopted by the United States, nor eliminated unilateralism long existing in American foreign policy. The UnitedStates continues to seek the status as the world's sole superpower,so as to establish a new, unipolar world order. It was proved by the unilateral U.S. withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty signed in 1972 between the United States and the former Soviet Union, which was announced on December 13.
Secondly, Russia, China and main countries of the European Union (EU) have been striving for a multipolar world, and all of them hope to become part of a multipolar world. Russia continues to take the revival of its superpower status as a strategy of its foreign strategy, while China sticks to the principle of maintaining independence and keeping the initiative in its own hands while opposing hegemonism and power politics as part of its foreign policy.
And thirdly, the September 11 attacks have caused limited impacts on relations among other big powers. In July this year, China and Russia signed a treaty on good-neighbourly relations andfriendship, laying a foundation for the development of bilateral ties in the 21st century. The Sino-Russia relationship and relations other big powers have continued to develop along their determined tracks even after the terror attacks.
In general, complicated relations including consensus and contradiction, cooperation and competition, and compromise and friction continue to coexist between the United States and other big powers in the world. The September 11 attacks have caused andwill continue to cause some impacts on international relations. But the attacks have not brought about substantial changes to relations among big powers, which are still in realignment.
( December 24, 2001)
