U.S.`s Rule in Iraq Will Vanish Soon.

A significant number of people believe `the Iraq nation building` which has been being led by the U.S. to be the beginning of `American Imperial Rule`. On this point of view, Niall Ferguson, economics professor of New York University said, “Even if the U.S. establishes `an empire`, it will be an empire to disappear in the shortest time in the history.” Prof. Ferguson who was also introduced in Korea with his book `the Cash Nexus` compared the British imperialism to the American imperialism in an article published in the latest issue (April 27) of the New York Times Magazine.

He believes the reason that the U.S. empire can not last long is not because of the external factors such as countervailing power from the international society, or repulsion from the colonized countries but because of the internal characteristics of the U.S. Although U.S. has superior economic and military power to the U.K. which once colonized and ruled Iraq directly or indirectly for over 40 years from 1920, there are no people in the U.S who will go to Baghdad.

About 2.6 million British people settled down in colonies between 1900 and 1914. Then in the colonies, British societies were established and then the societies became an important link for the British government to remotely rule the colonies. In particular, among the 927 newly recruited publics servants between 1927 and 1929 in British colonies, almost the half of them were graduates of the University Oxford or the University of Cambridge.

On the contrary, in the Yale University between 1998 and 1999, there was only one graduate who majored in Asian studies including Middle East studies.

Even those Americans who proclaim themselves to be Middle East experts have no interest in residing in the Middle East. They only come and go to Middle East countries for short trips utilizing the development of communications and transportation. Ironically you can say that the technical development is causing the Middle East to be alienated from U.S.

Why, then, the British elite voluntarily went to the harsh colonies. The Celtic elites who were discriminated in their home country took it as a good chance, explains Prof. Ferguson. It can be a good analogy to the composition of the Americans dispatched abroad; while blacks consist of the 12.9% of the U.S.`s population, 25.4% of soldiers sent overseas are blacks.

Most Americans staying in Iraq now are soldiers, a clear contrast to Great Britain where a large number of civilian elite had a variety of expertise. American elite want to work for the MTV or become a CEO of a big enterprise instead of going to Baghdad with enthusiasm to spread “Freedom and Democracy” in Iraq, pointed Prof. Ferguson.

The short election cycle in U.S. would also put the “colonialism” in a short life, and hence the U.S. empire would vanish in such as a short time, added Pro. Ferguson.

Hye-Yoon Park parkhyey@donga.com