New World Order

The public prefers Sen. Chuck Hagel's  (right) more thoughtful approach to the use of force…

Hagel recalls himself telling the new president: "We are at a time where there is a new world order. We don't control it. You must question everything, every assumption, everything they"—the military and diplomats—"tell you. 

Any assumption 10 years old is out of date. You need to question our role. You need to question the military. You need to question what are we using the military for."

Watch Hagel’s comments on video by clicking here…

The extent to which the United States can control the international order, and unilaterally shape it to our ends, has been in some ways the disagreement underlying the politics of foreign policy for at least eight years now. 

President Obama won two national elections with the argument—and the second time, with four years of evidence—that trading unilateralism and efforts at control for (still muscular) engagement and influence could provide for U.S. security as well and in fact are better than the failed efforts at "control" that had been on display in Iraq and the Middle East.

Hagel's own journey from Iraq War supporter to opponent reflects a real intellectual effort to engage with reality beyond our shores—reality in which power has spread and even, in some places, democratized, over the last few decades. 

He then moved on to begin, as he advised the president, questioning other pillars of the Cold War order—the utility of nuclear weapons, the value of increased Pentagon spending in a time of austerity, the value of support for Israel that fails to ask Israeli governments hard questions.

The outpouring of support for Hagel from bipartisan former Cabinet officials, senior diplomats, and retired flag officers—men (mostly) who have in the past been highly reticent to get involved in the confirmation process—reflects how much the American security establishment has been forced to confront this reality, from the United Nations in New York to Brasilia to Beijing. 

The U.S. national security establishment has not seen anything like this in decades, if ever.

The common theme in conspiracy theories about a New World Order is that a secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually rule the world through an authoritarian a world government. 

It is an all-encompassing propaganda that ideologizes its establishment as the culmination of history's progress.

Significant occurrences in politics and finance are speculated to be orchestrated by an unduly influential  cabal operating through many front organizations. 

Numerous historical and current events are seen as steps in an on-going plot to achieve world domination through secret political gatherings and decision-making processes.

So, is this what Hagel is worried about?