英美體製與世界

作者：英國《金融時報》首席經濟評論員馬丁•沃爾夫(Martin Wolf) 2008-09-08

現在，我們都是美國人。我這樣說，不僅是指美國領導人塑造了我們生活的這個世界。我們生活的世界是由美國人，或者更確切地說，是由英美人(Anglo-Americans)所創造的。美國將繼續保持巨大的影響力。它將如何利用這種影響力呢？這是我們應該針對美國總統大選提出的問題。選擇似乎也很清楚：在那些期望世界充滿衝突和那些認為應該尋求合作的人之間做出選擇。

美國對外關係委員會(Council on Foreign Relations)的沃爾特•羅素•米德(Walter RussellMead)在其才華橫溢的新書中，將當今美國納入世界霸權的交接之中——起源於17世紀的荷蘭，18和19世紀在英國得到發展，在20世紀的美國得以延續。* 他表示，它們的體製是“英美”體製。

這是怎樣一種體製？它有三個核心特征：海洋性；全球性；以及商業與軍事實力的結合。英美人有一種獨特的文明：平民化，但好戰；商業化，但注重道德；個人主義，但有組織性；有創新力，但又保守；富有理想主義，但冷酷無情。對敵人，它殘忍、狹隘而偽善。對朋友，它是自由與民主的源泉。

過去三個世紀，英美人給世界帶來了大國統治之道——由行政部門向選舉議會負責。他們帶來了以市場為導向的資本主義，以及發展中的工業和技術革命。更重要的是，他們打倒了許多強大的敵人：西班牙帝國、法蘭西王國與法蘭西帝國、德意誌帝國與納粹德國、軍國主義的日本和最近的蘇聯共產主義。他們摧毀了印度的莫臥兒帝國和日本的幕府統治，也間接葬送了中國最後一個皇朝。

英美人還曾經與許多對立的意識形態相抗爭。馬克思主義不過是現代最為重要的另一種意識形態。它作為一種意識形態體係的衰落，為弗朗西斯•福山(Francis Fukuyama)提供了描寫“曆史的終結”的機會。他認為，自由民主證實了自己是惟一與現代性相容的體製。

對過去三個世紀的壯麗曆史敘事，講述的就是英美人的革命，以及這種革命在它所摧毀、打敗、羞辱、特別是改造過的民族與文明中所引發的反應。因為這種世界霸權的交替並不僅僅局限於外部。英美還帶來了內部改革。最偉大的文明——伊斯蘭文明、印度文明、乃至中國文明——都被征服。英美人傾向於認為自己的幹涉出於善意，造成的影響是有益的。說得客氣點兒，在其它民族看來，事實並非如此。本書的優點之一在於，它正確評價了從路易十四(LouisXIV)到奧薩馬•本•拉登(Osama bin Laden)和弗拉基米爾•普京(Vladimir Putin)對英美人的鄙視和仇恨。

那麽，這種體製及其塑造的世界在21世紀的前景如何？而它與正在進行的美國總統選舉止間可能存在什麽關係？

第一點，也是最重要的一點，當今的世界已基本上接受了市場經濟及其全球化的必然結果。這正在改變著世界兩大巨人：中國和印度。結果，美國經濟出現了相對下滑。

第二，盡管如此，在未來25年，美國將依然是全球最強大、科技最發達、最具創新性的經濟體。同樣可以確信的是，美國將擁有占世界主導地位的軍事力量，從而在此期間保持世界霸主的地位。它仍將是世界上惟一的超級大國。

第三，巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)和約翰•麥凱恩(JohnMcCain)都是美國人。在美國內部，最惹人注目的似乎是他們的差異。但對於世界其它大多數國家和地區來說，最顯著的是他們的相似之處。鑒於兩人代表的都是英美傳統，這成為了一個文化問題，而非血統問題。他們都相信美國的強權命運天定，本性仁慈。

God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World

 
Walter Russell Mead
 
Description
 
An illuminating account of the birth and rise of the global political and economic system that, sustained first by Britain and now by America, created the modern world.
 
Walter Russell Mead, one of our most distinguished foreign policy experts, makes clear that the key to the predominance of the two countries has been the individualistic ideology of the prevailing Anglo-American religion. Mead explains how this helped create a culture uniquely adapted to capitalism, a system under which both countries thrived. We see how, as a result, the two nations were able to create the liberal, democratic system whose economic and social influence continues to grow around the world.
 
With wit, verve, and stunning insight, Mead recounts what is, in effect, the story of a centuries-long war between the English-speaking peoples and their enemies. Sustained by control of the oceans that surround them, the British and their American heirs built a global system of politics, power, investment, and trade over the past three hundred years. Along the way, the two nations developed a sophisticated grand strategy that brought the English-speaking powers to a pinnacle of global power and prestige unmatched in the history of the world.
 
Since Oliver Cromwell's day, the English-speakers have seen their enemies as haters of liberty and God who care nothing for morality, who will do anything to win, and who rely on a treacherous fifth column to assure victory. Those enemies, from Catholic Spain and Louis XIV to the Nazis, communists, and Al-Qaeda, held similar beliefs about their British and American rivals, but we see that though the Anglo-Americans have lost small wars here and there, they have won the major conflicts. So far.
 
The stakes today are higher than ever; technological progress makes new and terrible weapons easier for rogue states and terror groups to develop and deploy. Where some see an end to history and others a clash of civilizations, Mead sees the current conflicts in the Middle East as the latest challenge to the liberal, capitalist, and democratic world system that the Anglo-Americans are trying to build. What we need now, he says, is a diplomacy of civlizations based on a deeper understanding of the recurring conflicts between the liberal world system and its foes. In practice, this means that Americans generally, and especially the increasingly influential evangelical community, must develop a better sense of America's place in the world.
 
Mead's emphasis on the English-speaking world as the chief hero (and sometimes villain) in modern history changes the way we see the world. Authoritative and lucid, God and Gold weaves history, literature, philosophy, and religion together into an eminently important work—a dazzling book that helps us understand the world we live in and our tumultuous times.