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SCI LIBRARY

VIII. The New World Order II:
Beyond Conspiracy

America's Unknown Enemy: Beyond Conspiracy

Editorial Staff of the
American Institute for Economic Research



[1993]


Following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, President Bush frequently referred to his pursuit of a "New World Order" in which harmony rather than strife was to govern relations between nations and peoples. The immediate occasion for the celebration of this "New World Order" was the presumed victory of democratic capitalism over communism in the Eastern-bloc nations. While it seems plain that the vision of a "New World Order" -- subsequently endorsed by President Clinton -- assumes that the Western nations henceforth will play the dominant role in international affairs, it also seems plausible from the earlier references in Trilateralist and other circles to a "New International Economic Order," or "New World Order," that more may be involved than the recent change of fortunes among the world superpowers.

The intellectual texture of this "New World Order" seems intentionally vague. But if it is based on the type of thinking that recently has characterized that of either the academics who inhabit various "think tanks" in pursuit of solutions to world "problems" or the State Department policy planning staff itself, then in our view it is unlikely to produce the desired results, whatever they may be.

It would be impossible to analyze critically a notion that has not been adequately explicated in the first place. In this respect, the specific requirements of any "New World Order" remain unknown to the general public -- and perhaps to its presumed leaders as well. However, it may be possible to gain some understanding of what may be involved by reference not only to the tracts of such organizations as the Council on Foreign Relations or the Trilateral Commission, but also to the general milieu of "globalist" thought over the past 2 decades or so that has shaped both popular attitudes and political policies.

During the past several years, we have commented on a variety of ideas and events that would seem to relate in one way or another to the formation of the type of views that are reflected in talk of a "New World Order." They have included many academic fields -- for example, development economics, political science, history, foreign policy studies, anthropology, and environmental science - and have covered a broad range of topics -- from "Earth Day" celebrations to the application of Hegelian idealism as a means of predicting the course of world events.

In the chapters that follow, we have assembled a number of the most pertinent commentaries. Each was originally drafted as a discrete essay, and we have elected to reprint them here with minimal editorial changes, even though they overlap somewhat and even though portions of them since may have been overtaken by the pace of events.

Although they cover a broad range of topics, the essays have a common critical thread: that very often both the identification of problems and approaches to their solutions have been fatally flawed. In some instances, such as those involving current environmental questions, special interests that have little regard for scientific procedures appear to have gained control of the "propaganda" apparatus. In others, those charged with making policy appear to have relied more on fantasy than empirical observation in the development of approaches to foreign affairs, international economics, and the like.

The difficulties that are posed by such flawed prescriptions for human progress extend far beyond narrow notions of conspiracy. In a broad sense, they embrace many of the same obstacles to the pursuit of knowledge that have confronted humans since the dawn of history, and that have been a principal concern of AIER's research effort throughout the years. In this respect, the task of defeating some "conspiracy," if such were a threat, would seem incalculably easier than promoting an understanding of human affairs that is grounded in useful procedures of inquiry that promise to yield solutions to genuine human problems.

I.
CAPITALIZING ON CONSPIRACY
II.
THE SOCIOLOGY OF CONSPIRACY
III.
THE CONSPIRATORS
IV.
THE FEDERAL RESERVE CONSPIRACY
V.
WHAT DO INTERNATIONAL BANKERS WANT?
VI.
THE TRILATERALISTS' ROAD TO POWER
VII.
THE NEW WORLD ORDER I: MOLDING PUBLIC THOUGHT AND OPINION
VIII.
THE NEW WORLD ORDER II: BEYOND CONSPIRACY
IX.
THE PERSISTENT LURE OF THE FANTASTIC
X.
HOW TO MAKE ENEMIES IN BACKWARD NATIONS
XI.
LORDS OF POVERTY
XII.
THE END OF HISTORY?
XIII.
IS SOCIALISM DEAD?
XIV.
SOCIALISM IN THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
XV.
A NEW EASTERN EUROPEAN ECONOMICS?
XVI.
EARTH DAY FALLOUT: THE TWO CULTURES REVISITED
XVII.
BOOMSTERS 1, DOOMSTERS 0
XVIII.
WHITHER THE NATIONAL INTEREST?
XIX.
GLOBAL WARMING AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL MYTHS
XX.
THE COUNTERREVOLUTION