For one thing, the divisive war in Iraq may turn out to be the last act of the twentieth century rather than a harbinger of the twenty-first. American unilateralism is much less in evidence in the world's other hot spots, such as North Korea and Iran, both because of the costs of the war in Iraq and the realities of the situation in those other regions.
此外，若干客观原因使目前的欧美摩擦不会导致分离。首先，伊拉克的分裂战争也许标志着20世纪的终结，但绝非21世纪的起始。美国的单边主义在北朝鲜和伊朗等其它热点地区远没有如此明显，这既因为伊拉克战争代价惨重，也是其它地区的现实情况使然。