Themes of war and peace are constant here. Human beings, we have often said, posses a pathological tendency to divide themselves, quickly, into mutually hostile groups [1,2] And that once those identities are established, their members proceed to ascribe all evil and nefariousness to their latest enemy. [3.4] Even the most advanced and enlightened nations are not immune. We do not wish to single out the US. But remember when the North Vietnamese were about to unleash a domino effect with countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and beyond toppling to Communism, ending with the Red Flag raised in triumph over the Sydney Opera House? Or when Mr Saddam Hussein grasped weapons of mass destruction of such awesome power and reach that they threatened the lives of very man woman and child with imminent destruction?
Nations change in size, Bu the threat is the same. Our Spanish readers will recall a time when nations such as Castille, Leon, Navarre, Aragon and the various emirates to the south fought each other like tom cats. If they tried it now the Spanish Government would simply send the police to arrest the culprits. Every nation shows the same sorry trend: remember our post on the unknown skeletons of Neolithic Alava, who died for causes long rendered futile by their utter unknowability? (LSS 5 11 2023)
It is impossible to estimate the costs-economic, ecological, in lives- of the current war in the Middle East. All of us must pay them, although only three of our current nation states are directly involved. But we know they will constitute a long lasting tax on future generations. Which leads back to the United States The principle of their founding Revolution was “no taxation without representation.” So do all the other nations deserve representation in the dialectic of this war? And thereby, perhaps, to stop it while there is still time?
[1] Social identity theory – Wikipedia
[2] Realistic conflict theory – Wikipedia
[3] Chua, Amy. Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations. New York: Penguin Press, 2018.
[4] Kaufmann, Eric. Whiteshift: Populism, Immigration and the Future of White Majorities. London: Allen Lane, 2018.
#war #social identity theory #peace #nation state #vietnam war #iraq war #middle east #saddam hussein #president george w bush
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