How Israeli genocide in Gaza exposed the West’s liberal delusion
Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike where displaced people were staying in Rafah, Gaza Strip, 27 May 2024
Christian Henderson writes in Middle East Eye on 28 August 2024:
One question that might puzzle future historians who scrutinise the current juncture is why the democracies of the West did nothing to stop Israel from committing genocide in Gaza.
They might find their inaction perplexing as the language of human rights has been a bedrock for the US and its allies and an essential feature of western hegemony. It has long been a tool of soft power and justifies the use of military force.
Why, then, have they risked this valuable stature by supporting Israel’s war crimes in Gaza?
The US and its European allies, such as Germany, the UK and the Netherlands, have been integral to Israel’s onslaught. They have transported weapons on a daily basis, attempted to protect Israeli leaders from prosecution, and done nothing to stop murderous attacks on Palestinian civilians.
Generally, the explanation for this complicity belongs to two different camps. One argues that the Israel lobby has captured western decision-making to ensure that Israel enjoys impunity and support. The other argues that the US deems Israel a vital part of its imperial strategy in an oil-rich region, thus viewing its survival as essential to its interests.
But there is another explanation that has less to do with Israel and more to do with the way in which the West sees itself and its role in the world.
Liberal hegemony
Since the end of the Cold War, liberalism has dominated western foreign policy. This is what realist international relations scholars such as John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt describe as “liberal hegemony”. The foreign policy of the US and its key western allies assumes that liberal democracies and free markets are the best means to achieve stability and peace.