Everything That Wonks Anonymous Knows About International Relations
He could have learned from Russian Science Fiction. Specifically from the Night Watch series by Sergei Lukyanenko.
The premise of these books is that magical mutants, called others, live among us and absorb small bits of our energy. Some are bad and use this energy to promote their own well being and selfishness in general, Dark Others. Others are good and use this energy to promote peace, harmony and the brotherhood/sisterhood of humanity, Light Others.
In their struggles over the years others have very nearly destroyed the world and the human beings they depend on for energy. As a result they have arrived at a treaty that limits their intervention in the human world and their warfare. Sometimes the treaty is broken or ineffective - think WWII.
The Russian Revolution was an intervention by light others. Attempts to improve humanity may do more harm than ordinary greed and anger. In fact, balance between the two sides seems to be more important to the survival of humanity than the inherent good or evil of the sides.
When Wonks Anonymous looks at the world he does not really see a side that he wants to win. True, he does believe that there are some genuinely evil people in power - the current US administration, Slobodan Milosevic or Ariel Sharon are good examples. There are also some really good people, - Ganhdi or Martin Luther King come to mind. Nevertheless most world leaders, including Hugo Chavez, the government of Iran, Vladimir Putin and Barak Obama, are problematic.
They have potential to do good in the world. They could also do huge harm if only they achieve a position of unchecked power.
Bill Clinton's response to the fall of the Soviet Union illustrates this problem admirably. Without countervailing power, the US leadership embarked on a series of adventures that, while saving some, did great harm in the Balkans, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. When Clinton ordered the bombing of the main public gathering place in Belgrade, he was drunk with power.
When we promoted a genuinely evil person to the leadership of the world's only superpower. we did untold damage to the world.
Wonks Anonymous has reasons for cautious optimism about the future of international affairs. We have just avoided electing a president whose attitude to the world has been deeply influenced by the experiences that he lived through during the Vietnam War but has never come to terms with. Earlier in the year we avoided a president who might have felt a need to prove that a woman can be tough. Instead we have a president who seems to be blessed with an even temperament.
It helps that Barak Obama spent some time in Indonesia during a US intervention to improve the world and has some grasp of the damage that can be done.
Nevertheless Wonks Anonymous fully recognizes that Barak Obama is fairly conventional, even center-right, in his foreign policy. He is not Dennis Kucinich and if he were he would not have been elected.
So, although there is still plenty for the peace movement to do, we can be grateful that the leader of the United States is not convinced of his own righteousness.
Also we can thank Putin for bringing Russia to a state where it can realistically begin to counter the power of the United States. Which fact Obama seems sane enough to recognize.
The premise of these books is that magical mutants, called others, live among us and absorb small bits of our energy. Some are bad and use this energy to promote their own well being and selfishness in general, Dark Others. Others are good and use this energy to promote peace, harmony and the brotherhood/sisterhood of humanity, Light Others.
In their struggles over the years others have very nearly destroyed the world and the human beings they depend on for energy. As a result they have arrived at a treaty that limits their intervention in the human world and their warfare. Sometimes the treaty is broken or ineffective - think WWII.
The Russian Revolution was an intervention by light others. Attempts to improve humanity may do more harm than ordinary greed and anger. In fact, balance between the two sides seems to be more important to the survival of humanity than the inherent good or evil of the sides.
When Wonks Anonymous looks at the world he does not really see a side that he wants to win. True, he does believe that there are some genuinely evil people in power - the current US administration, Slobodan Milosevic or Ariel Sharon are good examples. There are also some really good people, - Ganhdi or Martin Luther King come to mind. Nevertheless most world leaders, including Hugo Chavez, the government of Iran, Vladimir Putin and Barak Obama, are problematic.
They have potential to do good in the world. They could also do huge harm if only they achieve a position of unchecked power.
Bill Clinton's response to the fall of the Soviet Union illustrates this problem admirably. Without countervailing power, the US leadership embarked on a series of adventures that, while saving some, did great harm in the Balkans, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. When Clinton ordered the bombing of the main public gathering place in Belgrade, he was drunk with power.
When we promoted a genuinely evil person to the leadership of the world's only superpower. we did untold damage to the world.
Wonks Anonymous has reasons for cautious optimism about the future of international affairs. We have just avoided electing a president whose attitude to the world has been deeply influenced by the experiences that he lived through during the Vietnam War but has never come to terms with. Earlier in the year we avoided a president who might have felt a need to prove that a woman can be tough. Instead we have a president who seems to be blessed with an even temperament.
It helps that Barak Obama spent some time in Indonesia during a US intervention to improve the world and has some grasp of the damage that can be done.
Nevertheless Wonks Anonymous fully recognizes that Barak Obama is fairly conventional, even center-right, in his foreign policy. He is not Dennis Kucinich and if he were he would not have been elected.
So, although there is still plenty for the peace movement to do, we can be grateful that the leader of the United States is not convinced of his own righteousness.
Also we can thank Putin for bringing Russia to a state where it can realistically begin to counter the power of the United States. Which fact Obama seems sane enough to recognize.
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