What a difference a year can make. Although the fear of terrorism continues to stalk the world, the popular perception of it has changed significantly over the past year. Following the atrocity of Sept. 11, 2001 -- an attack on freedom, as U.S. President George W. Bush put it -- the international community rallied to the support of his war on terror. But the united front began to crack as the Bush administration shifted the focus from Afghanistan to Iraq. Now, even some of America's allies have serious reservations about a possible U.S. attack on Baghdad.
The main concern is that the Bush administration appears bent on ousting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein by force -- by a pre-emptive strike if necessary. It is true that the military operation in Afghanistan succeeded in toppling the Taliban regime, but the U.S. strategy of "smoking out" terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda has so far failed to produce tangible results. In fact, there are signs that U.S. military efforts to stamp out terrorism may be reaching their limits.
America's military muscle cannot be made light of. Its $380-billion defense budget accounts for more than 40 percent of the world's total military spending. As the world's sole superpower, America today can be likened to the Roman Empire or the British Empire in its heyday. The irony is that the "American empire" is not as widely respected in the world, largely because of its perceived tendency toward unilateralism.