While election primary season may be heating up, while the Bush Administration's power grab political tactics seems to be failing, and while my good friend Paul Wolfowitz has been forced to depart from the World Bank, international events over this summer have created a slightly more important situation than the outcome of the Information Age's YouTube presidential candidate debate. This summer of international politics has culminated in radically shifting power arrangements, institutional and leadership transformations and dangerously misunderstood power positioning.
Since the beginning of the summer, there has been the issue of a United States-initiated missile defense shield in Europe-virtually the perfect representation of the "old versus new" divide between European countries, as well as an illustration of the tensions between Europe, the United States and a Russia that has been growing in strength since the turn of the century. While many have misrepresented these tensions as a return to Cold War rhetoric and posturing, the Group of 8 (G8) Summit in June showed the wider embrace of closer government cooperation and dialogue, epitomized by Russia's Vladimir Putin offering to host portions of the same defensive system that he had been fighting so hard against.
The world may be warming to the idea of an economically stronger and quasi-cooperative Russia (as proven by the extension of invitations for Russia to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Trade Organization) but Western leaders have also had an extremely difficult time with a Russia willing to use its political weight regionally. This summer has also seen diplomatic skirmishes over the future of Kosovo come to a head because of Russian opposition within the United Nations Security Council. The summer European Union summits, internal dialogue and emerging foreign policies have shown an unprecedented level of cautiousness and passivity in the union's external interactions-this union has only in June of this year begun to reverse institutional, structural and larger cohesion problems initiated by the 2004 Constitutional Treaty failure.
The EU Presidency has rotated from Germany to Portugal (not helping concerns over weak European Union leadership), Gordon Brown has taken over from Tony Blair as the leader of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom, China has been trying to modernize itself as fast as it can before it plays host to the 2008 Olympics (while, in the meantime, executing their health minister), there has been an unprecedented level of Middle Eastern dialogue over the past months as the US and Iran have met to discuss the future of Iraq and there is a mad dash between Russia, Canada and some Nordic countries over the rights to the ownership and resources of the North Pole - a process made peacefully possible by the credibility and acceptance of United Nations resolutions and the Law of the Sea Treaty (which the U.S. has not signed).
While these issues should not make domestic politics border on the insignificant, they should be clear examples of how the rest of the world does not stop for our political debates and domestic decisions, and also of how many critically important events can happen over a mere couple of months in the summer. We are seeing unprecedented levels of international liberal thought and communication, ensuring that ominous rhetoric continues to only be rhetoric; old adversaries have been brought into closer cooperation for the wider goals of regional stability. There are still major hurdles to overcome but there is a proactive sense of engagement that has emerged-an idea that these problems can be solved, no matter how much time must be taken or maneuvering must be done.
The world is not paralyzed - other countries will not stop for American political debates and the reverse should constantly hold true. There is no reason why we must stop concerning ourselves with international events. The US is an essential component of the international system and our political discourse should not be constrained to our geographic borders or forgotten during domestic transformations. If the US wants to maintain its leadership role then we must be a greater part of these solutions - constantly embracing and preparing ourselves for the results of a more interconnected world.