Caught in the Storm: Middle Powers as Barometers for the West’s Changing Attitude toward Security and Human Rights after 9/11

Abstract

For many, the end of the Cold War was the victory of “good” liberalism against the “evil” socialism/communism, the “end of history” as Francis Fukuyama famously put it. What really ended was the ideological, strategic, and agenda-setting straitjacket that shackled aligned countries for over 40 years. With the ideological umbrella now gone, less prominent countries — middle powers — like Canada, Australia, or the Netherlands could play a more important role on the international stage, most notably for the human rights regime. So as the 1990s unfolded, Western states took to promoting the triad of modern liberalism — free market, democracy, and human rights — with middle-power countries not only in the vanguard of agenda-setting and policy-making, but also in the application of these humanitarian policies. By their actions, middlepower countries confirmed the tendencies of major powers and therefore legitimized the discourse, setting new tones in policy and establishing domestic and international precedents that translated into interventions in the Balkans and Africa. Middle powers thus established themselves as the barometer, reflecting the atmosphere of big power politics and the realpolitik tendencies of major Western powers. However, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 brought the focus back to more basic security priorities and human rights were deemed a luxury.