【明報專訊】THE TWO HOUSES of the US Congress have successively passed a foreign-related package worth nearly US$100 billion, providing aid to the governments of Ukraine, Israel and Taipei and mandating the sale of the video-sharing platform TikTok. President Joe Biden has stated that he will sign the bill to bring it into effect.
Gaza and Ukraine are the two battlefields that attract the most attention in the world today. The war in Gaza entered its 200th day on Tuesday, but a ceasefire is still not in sight. Gaza's health department states that the accumulated death toll has exceeded 30,000 and hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced. European Union officials state that over 60% of the physical infrastructure in Gaza has been damaged, and 35% has been fully destroyed. Earlier this year, the World Bank and the United Nations assessed the damage in Gaza and estimated that it would cost about US$90 billion to rebuild Gaza. It is estimated that the amount needed will be even greater for Gaza's reconstruction.
As for the war between Russia and Ukraine, the fighting has lasted over two years, causing enormous casualties to both sides. It is estimated that the two sides have lost thousands of soldiers each. In terms of economic and military might, Ukraine is no match for Russia. If the war of attrition drags on, Ukraine will be at a particular disadvantage.
The US is having an election later this year. Concerning the foreign aid bill, the US Senate and House of Representatives have chosen to adopt a rather complicated way to "package" it, which involves a basket of foreign-related bills. This itself is the product of a lot of electoral and political calculations. The Biden administration and the Democratic Party had been planning to allocate funding to support Ukraine against Russia's invasion since last summer. However, Donald Trump and his right-wing faction of the Republican Party, the so-called "MAGA" (which stands for the slogan "Make America Great Again") supporters, were strongly against supporting Ukraine, believing that the US should not "foot the bill of others".
Then war broke out in Gaza last October. Conservative voters in the US mostly supported Israel, and the Republican Party took advantage of the situation. However, the Israeli army's mass killings led to dissatisfaction among progressive voters in the US, and the Democratic Party was caught between a rock and a hard place concerning aiding Israel.
Furthermore, the two parties are at loggerheads over refugees at the US-Mexico border, which also complicates the issue of aiding Israel and Ukraine. As Biden needed to pay proper regard to the humanitarian stance of progressive Democratic lawmakers on immigration, Republicans homed in on the issue to attack Biden and the Democratic Party so as to please conservative voters. As partisan politics put US aid to Ukraine and Israel on hold, the packaging of a number of seemingly wildly unrelated bills as a compromise for each side became the way out.
After the end of the Cold War, the US was committed to establishing a hegemonic order revolving around its own interests. Therefore, it promoted "Pax Americana". 30 years on, with the rise and fall of different powers in the international arena, the world has become multipolar. Niall Ferguson, a British historian, argues that Pax Americana is facing challenges in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and this will be reflected in the fates of Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Seen from this perspective, the bill passed by the US Senate and House of Representatives to support Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan has a common theme that runs through it — the preservation of Pax Americana.
明報社評 2024.04.25：美國維護霸權秩序 援外法案助長戰火
美國國會兩院先後通過涉款近千億美元的一籃子涉外法案包，落實對烏克蘭、以色列及台北當局的援助，以及強制短片分享平台TikTok賣盤，總統拜登表明將簽署法案生效。
加沙與烏克蘭是當今全球最關注的兩個戰場。加沙戰事本周二滿200天，迄今未見停火迹象。加沙衛生部門表示，累計死亡人數超過3萬，流離失所者數以十萬計，歐盟官員指當地逾六成實體基建受損，三成半遭徹底摧毁。世界銀行及聯合國今年初評估加沙損毁狀况，推算需耗資約900億美元重建加沙，估計現時重建所需金額將更大。
俄烏戰爭方面，持續兩年多的戰鬥，令兩軍折損巨大，估計雙方都有萬計士兵陣亡。烏克蘭無論經濟和軍事體量都遠遠不及俄羅斯，消耗戰曠日持久，對烏方尤其不利。
今年是美國大選年，這次參眾兩院以相當複雜的「打包」方式，通過一籃子涉外法案，本身就攙入大量選舉政治盤算。拜登政府和民主黨去夏已在籌謀撥款援烏抗俄，但特朗普及其共和黨「MAGA」（「令美國再度偉大」口號縮寫）右翼派系大力反對，認為美國不應「代人埋單」。
及至去年10月加沙戰事爆發，美國保守派選民多撐以色列，共和黨看風駛舵，但以軍大肆殺戮，又觸發美國進步派選民不滿，民主黨對「援以」左右為難。
另外，兩黨就美墨邊境難民問題鬧得不可開交，也令援以援烏問題變得更複雜。拜登要顧及民主黨進步派議員在移民問題上的人道立場，共和黨則看準這一議題攻擊拜登和民主黨，取悅保守選民。黨派政治令美國援烏援以陷入僵局，將原本看來風馬牛不相及的多項法案綑綁打包，來一場「大交易」各取所需，遂成為了出路。
冷戰結束後，美國致力建立以自身利益為中心的霸權秩序，伸張「美利堅治世」（Pax Americana）。30年過去，隨着國際力量消長，世界走向多極化，英國歷史學家佛格森（Niall Ferguson）認為，美利堅治世在歐洲、中東和亞洲都面臨挑戰，並體現於烏克蘭、以色列和台灣命運之上。從這一角度看，今次美國兩院將援烏援以援台法案綑綁通過，貫穿其中的其實就是維護美利堅治世。
/ Glossary生字 /
between a rock and a hard place：faced with two equally undesirable alternatives
home in on：to direct your thoughts or attention towards something
multipolar：characterised by more than two centres of power or interest