With Barack Obama knocking on the door of the White House, the Republican Party is in crisis, writes Gamil Matar. But the neocons are unlikely to give up without a fight Every day that has passed since the outbreak -- or at least the acknowledgement -- of the global economic crisis I grow more and more convinced that the world is in for even more remarkable developments. It is quite enough to have observed that within less than a month talk of a fiscal crisis has escalated to talk of a global economic crisis and an almost certain political crisis around the corner. I was listening recently to an interview with the neoconservatives' spiritual leader William Kristol. I have to admit that this interview stunned me more than any other of his writings, including those pertaining to the Arabs, Muslims and others who are not a part of Judeo-Christian "civilisation". Asked why the neoconservatives had suffered so many setbacks, after a little hemming and hawing Kristol denied that the Bush era had caused enormous problems for the US and America's reputation. It is as if the widespread doubts about the neoconservatives' leadership abilities simply did not exist. Nor, he added, should there be any regrets about the part the neo-conservatives played in pushing Bush to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and that a military conflict against Iran cannot be discounted. Although Kristol believes that the Democrats will win a majority in Congress, and most probably the White House, he remains convinced that the agenda promoted by the neoconservatives is here to stay. He points to the fact that it was the Democratic Clinton administration that freed banks and credit companies from many of the regulations that commentators now argue could have prevented the credit collapse. And, he asked, has not Barak Obama retracted his position on the war in Iraq and other international questions? I wasn't surprised by the carefully worded way in which he suggested that the opinion of the American people counts for little. Dick Cheney, another neoconservative leader, said pretty much the same thing with regards to the opinion of the American electorate towards the war in Iraq. Nor was I surprised by Kristol's remarks that Obama and McCain have been resorting to "populist" tactics to attract support. According to him, and other neoconservatives, populism in and of itself is not bad. It may be necessary to attain certain objectives. "What matters is how it is used and towards which ends," he said. What is chilling are the ends to which the Kristol camp are working. If you read what Robert Kagan has to say you will probably reach the same conclusion I did several years ago. Prominent neoconservative pundit Kagan maintains that the US is prepared for a new international cold war and for a worldwide confrontation that will most likely be more dangerous than any conflict that took place in the 20th century. Kagan favours abolishing the UN, which he believes no longer meets the needs of "democratic nations" or serves the interests of the US. The UN, he argues, was constructed to promote the interests of the victors of World War II, particularly the US. Those interests have now changed, as has the nature of the UN, its membership and modes of operation. It is therefore time to come up with a new international organisation that serves American interests. He proposes that a coalition of democratic states should undertake this task, just as the Allied powers did towards the end of World War II. Moreover, the new coalition should exclude China and Russia. Otherwise put, Kagan proposes war against two great powers which he is convinced will never embrace democracy and will therefore always remain hostile towards the West. On the other side of the Atlantic European leaders are calling for a new economic order. They readily acknowledge that the system founded by Britain and the US deviated from its founding principles when the theories of Milton Friedman and his disciples began to be put into practice. In the face of the utter havoc wrought by these policies European nations are clamouring for regulations to rein in the chaos, with some economists now urging a return to state control of loan and credit facilities. In other words, the overwhelming majority of the world has rebelled against the domination of US neoconservative economists over the global economy and have decided to liberate their economies from the tyranny of free market anarchy. The neocons are watching these developments patiently. Under their leadership White America has failed to safeguard its boundaries from Hispanic immigrants and to keep an African American from the doors of the White House. It failed to win a definitive victory in any military engagement or to improve the lot of the middle class, the backbone of the Republican system. It has racked up the biggest budgetary and trade deficits in history and sent the value of the dollar plummeting. Standards of healthcare and other social services have deteriorated drastically while, abroad, America's image and popularity are at their lowest ebb. One would think that such a dismal record, topped by the resounding crash of the economic principles particularly dear to them, would have convinced the neoconservatives to shut up shop. But they may still have some tricks up their sleeve. History tells of similar extremist groups that took advantage of crises and popular discontent to drum up passions, mobilise thugs and otherwise practice the arts of demagoguery. By outright coup, or through some legal loophole, these groups succeeded in seizing power, disseminating an ultranationalist agenda, purging the country of their opponents and igniting violence and hatred. I doubt that the neoconservatives will let the opportunities opened by the current crisis slip by. They will not admit to failure and withdraw gracefully from the field. Perhaps some may refer to a "setback" and others agree to some "rectifications" -- the term Bush used in a recent press conference in which he apologised for his plan to halt the fiscal decline -- but they will do so very reluctantly. They are already waging a media campaign in the US and abroad in defence of discredited economic policies and the global economic order. In the process, they are lashing out at America's "enemies" for trying to undermine the US's global status, exaggerating the scope of the crisis. It would be a mistake to rush to the conclusion that the neoconservatives are ready to throw in the towel. The war against terrorism that they instigated is still flaring, the outlines of US military strategy are still intact, the laws eroding civil rights and liberties in the US are ready to be used, and neoconservative officials remain in key positions of government. The end of the neocons is still a long way off.
