By Jason Sibert<\/p>\n
If one is depressed about the present, it sometimes helps to look at the past.<\/p>\n
Our world is growing apart with ultranationalist movements springing up in most parts of the world. The United Nations has never been less involved in world affairs than now, and the world\u2019s prime powers seem willing to go head-to-head with one another. We see two big blocks, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which China, Russia and its allies are a part of, and the Quadrilateral Security Dialog, which the United States and its allies are a part of, competing for power. India belongs to both blocks. The prospects for cooperation amongst great powers seems dim.<\/p>\n
In World War II, the world was consumed in a destructive war, but a failed presidential candidate took a trip around the world and delivered a powerful message. Wendell Willkie ran for president on the Republican ticket against Franklin Roosevelt in 1940 and lost. The two remained on good terms after the election. Although they differed on some domestic issues, the two shared an internationalist attitude when it comes to world affairs. In the summer of 1942, Roosevelt sent Willkie on his trip around the world to represent the U.S.<\/p>\n
The former presidential candidate described the world as \u201csmall and completely interdependent.\u201d Willkie mingled with people around all over the world, and he found that people wanted the same thing \u2013 peace, freedom, self-determination, and an escape from poverty. His trip took him to Soviet Russia, Palestine, Iran, and China. Willkie was an anti-racist, as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People named its headquarters the Wendell Willkie Memorial Building. The British were worried about the former Republican presidential nominee for his anti-imperialist stance. Many in the United Kingdom wanted to keep the British Empire together at that time.<\/p>\n
Willkie wrote a book on his travels titled \u201cOne World.\u201d It was released in the spring of 1943. The book gave Americans the feel of what it would be like to have interdependent and equal relations beyond their borders. A Gallup poll at the time found three out of four Americans had read the book. Bookstores couldn\u2019t hardly keep enough copies. \u00a0In discussing the book, \u201cPopular Mechanics\u201d magazine declared that \u201cnever before had persons been so interested in the whole world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Willkie defined his internationalism as an alternative to \u201cnarrow nationalism\u201d and \u201cinternational imperialism.\u201d He argued both were the cause of World War II. He thought the U.S. should play a central but not dominant role in a future international order. \u00a0Willkie wanted a world where there was \u201cequality of opportunity for every race and nation.\u201d When the United Nations was established, President Harry Truman spoke of Willkie\u2019s ideas.<\/p>\n
When the country become involved in the Cold War, the presidential candidate\u2019s ideas were at least partially lost. With the world facing problems like nuclear proliferation, the greenhouse effect, right-wing nationalism, and pandemics, it\u2019s high time we rediscover Willkie\u2019s ideas!<\/p>\n
Jason Sibert is the executive director of the Peace Economy Project in St Louis.<\/p>\n
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