Managing the Global Commons - Abraham M. Denmark
Managing the Global Commons
Since the end of World War II, and especially since the end of the Cold War, the openness and stability of the global commons have been protected and sustained by U.S. military dominance and political leadership. The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard have dissuaded naval aggression and fought piracy around the world, ensuring unprecedented freedom of the seas. The United States led the creation of international agreements on air transportation, enabling the creation of a global air industry. Washington also forged an international consensus on the openness of space, ensuring that all countries with the means to do so can utilize orbital space for scientific, commercial, and military purposes. Lastly, research funded by the U.S. government led to the creation of a decentralized network of connections now called the Internet, which connects physically dispersed markets, capital, and people.
For the past 65 years, U.S. power has been derived in part from providing global public goods that also service vital U.S. interests, including stability in key regions, a vibrant and interconnected global economy, and open access to the global commons. Leading American theorist Joseph Nye has argued that considering the relationship of U.S. power to global public goods helps to unveil ‘‘an important strategic principle that could help America reconcile its national interests with a broader global perspective and assert effective leadership.’’ Geography made the United States a natural sea power, while successful exploitation of air, space, and U.S. technological prowess made the United States a power in the other commons as well. Yet, globalization has given birth to new military powers capable of changing the military dynamics within the global commons, heralding a new era in which unilateral U.S. military power alone will be insufficient to preserve their openness and stability.
To address these changes, the United States must adapt its military and diplomatic approaches to the global commons. While U.S. hard power is already being adjusted to account for these threats, Washington has yet to articulate a diplomatic strategy to sustain access to the commons. Just as the Obama administration has emphasized ‘‘mutual interest’’ in pushing initiatives from nuclear nonproliferation to engaging the Muslim world, Washington should now emphasize the international system’s dependence on the global commons in order to build support for international regimes and agreements that bolster their openness and stability.
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