"A Dream Only American Power Can Inspire"

Critics of US foreign policy no longer need to make the argument that the US is trying to undermine the UN and international law, while making active use of global military dominance; the Project for the New American Century is doing it for them. Founded in 1997 on the premise that "too few political leaders today are making the case for [American] global leadership", the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) is a right wing, Washington-based think tank committed to "promoting the idea that American leadership is good both for America and for the world."

What makes the Project different from other think tanks and foundations is the amount of direct influence it wields. Signatories of the organization's 1997 "statement of principles" include high-profile positions within government--current Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Jeb Bush (George W's brother)--as well as prominent neoconservatives Francis Fukuyama, Steve Forbes, Norman Podhoretz, Dan Quayle and William Kristol.

For PNAC, rebuilding US military power involves at least three main objectives. First, an "increase in active-duty strength from 1.4 million to 1.6 million," which would enable the US to better fight and win the aforementioned "multiple, simultaneous theater wars" in addition to performing "'constabulary' duties associated with shaping the security environment in critical regions."

Second, missile defense is central to continued American dominance. The notion of "mutually assured destruction", whereby countries that possess nuclear weapons can "assure" that anyone who attacks them will suffer a nuclear annihilation, is unacceptable.

Third, PNAC advocates funding research into assessing the threat and potential uses of new technology ("cyber warfare"), and the development of new weapons.

The authors of "Rebuilding" write: "advanced forms of biological warfare that can 'target' specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool." The simultaneous, casual willingness to develop biological weapons, target civilians based on their race, and use terror to maintain global US dominance could be dismissed as the rantings of deranged right-wing wackos, were it not for PNAC's clear power and influence.

Despite frequent references to "rule of law", PNAC is singularly opposed to any limits placed on US power, including international law.

more...

Another foreign article on the PNAC creating an American Empire.