Poseur multilateralists prefer a consensual foreign policy that looks good to one that does any good.
In an unintentionally hilarious article for Foreign Policy, Parag Khanna argues that a metrosexual foreign policy is a good thing.
Mr Khanna identifies the European Union as the world’s first metrosexual superpower - [Editor: metrosexual ‘yes’, but superpower?] - blending diplomacy, economic aid and defence deployments into a “more attractive” foreign policy.
More attractive but less effective
Mark Steyn gives ‘metrosexual multilateralism’ another – and better – name; ‘poseur multilateralism’.
Whilst an institution-of-convenience like the UN tries to forge an "attractive" foreign policy the enemies of civilisation are racing to acquire nuclear and other weapons of mass terror.
Metrosexual multilateralists would spend so long staging conferences, photo opportunities and enquiries into the root causes of terror that the west would, quite simply, lose the race against terror.
George W Bush doesn't need 'EU eye for the nation state guy' treatment
George W Bush is the kind of masculine superpower that doesn't want an 'EU eye for the nation state guy' makeover. The pre-emptive policies of President Bush, John Howard and Tony Blair (the Anglosphere) may not have been consistently pretty but they have - so far - kept us ahead of the terrorists' ambitions by disrupting their training camps in rogue nations like Afghanistan and Iraq.
Mark Steyn exposes the deadly consequences of poseur multilateralism with these devastating lines (written on 29th July 2004):
“Right now cowboy Bush is leaving Sudan to the metrosexuals and what have they got to show for their projection of ‘soft power’? Tens of thousands of corpses that no amount of cologne will hide the smell of.”
Does the "soft power" and "hard power" argument of Joseph Nye articulated in his 2002 book "The Paradox of American Power: Why the World's Only Superpower Can't Go It Alone", really need to be recast in terms of sexuality. Is anything to be gained by once again deploying a sexual metaphor. Or is it just a weak excuse to meaninglessly bash a "soft power" approach as feminine, queer and metrosexual.
Posted by: Stephen Alley | November 10, 2005 at 03:54 PM
Metrosexuals do well with women. They get a lot of sex. Therefore, they have a release of their pent up anger and don't have to go to war quite so much to demonstrate that they are still real men.
On a serious note, what evidence was there for terrorist training camps in Iraq. There are terrorist cells in Luton, should that be carpet bombed too?
By the way, Afganistan was approved by the UN so using it in the same bracket as Iraq so you look bigger, stronger, and more of an UN renegade is a bit pathetic.
Why do you laugh at attempts to find the cause of problems and fix them? That is the long term solution. Admittedly you don't get to dress up in soldiers uniforms, which I'm sure Mark Steyn and George W are quite partial to.
Apologies if I have been offensive. I simply can't stand all of this neo-con aren't-we-so-butch-and-manly rubish.
Posted by: James Schneider | February 26, 2006 at 01:35 PM
Okay this is weird you use a lot of the same products we use. LOL. We buy that gel a lot of the time, I MUST have Head & Shoulders as my shmoapo, (but I switch between conditioners all the time.) The apricot face scrub has saved my life. LOL. I can't believe I'm 32 and still trying to prevent acne but using that scrub once a day has almost totally eliminated that problem for me. (BTW the store brand face scrub works just as well!) As for the Aveeno shaving cream that stuff is nice but I don't usually splurge on it. I just use soap.Carlos is also obsessed with Q-tips. LOL.So excited about the weekly vlogs. I love seeing you face-to-face. Lot's of fun!
Posted by: Kartik | July 13, 2012 at 03:19 AM