It’s interesting when two commentators from different parts of the political firmament see the same event the same way. Case in point: the Copenhagen conference on so-called climate change. Former New York Times columnist and Council on Foreign Relations president Leslie Gelb sees the multipolar world at work and doesn’t like it very much—in contrast to those liberals who have been hailing the demise of the United States as the lead power in a unipolar world. Roger L. Simon of Pajames Media, who was in Copenhagen, agrees, noting the cheers from the delegates for Hugo Chavez’s anti-capitalism rants. “I have seen the future and it stinks.” Fortunately, the Copenhagen conferees were unable to agree on a binding treaty. Unfortunately, they’ve presented a view of world governance—or, rather, misgovernance—which bodes ill for the future.
