Hi Reid,
Under the category of FWIWMN**:
Here's an odd thought. I can't recall anybody bringing this up yet.
It strikes me that one of the major reasons we are no longer at odds with any major power has much less to do with our superiority militarily, and much much more to do with the fact that we have managed to forge increasingly symbiotic relationships with our former enemies. The increasing globalization of national economies has helped in that regard. I consider this a tremendous accomplishment, though perhaps not intentional. We depend upon them for our own economic livelihood, and they depend upon us. And you don't shoot your business partner.
Military superiority does not necessarily bring about resolution of conflicts. We are undisputably superior militarily to Iraq, for example, and every other nation in the world for that matter. But that doesn't stop confrontation and conflict. That doesn't make people say to themselves, "Oh my... they could squash us like bugs if they wanted to. We better not piss them off! We better keep our mouths shut!" If anything, the contrary is more true: people seem more than willing to play the role of David and take on Goliath. So of itself, exercising military might can be anticipated to lead more often to limited resolutions, less often to lasting ones.
But....
If you look through history, you will see examples of groups of people who were once mortal enemies locked in conflict that seemingly could never be resolved... but once they established solid trade interrelationships, all that hatred seemed to get pushed to the background in the interests of the economic advancement of both. One of the more dramatic examples in recent times is the U.S. and China. I for one well remember the vitriolic rhetoric and saber rattling and even brinksmanship during the Cultural Revolution.
Another example closer to home, albeit less dramatic, are the interdependence of the Mexican and American (chiefly California and the southwest) economies. We were once bitter enemies of Mexico. We fought wars with them and took their land by force. That didn't sit well with them, of course. But now, it turns out we depend very heavily upon labor from Mexico, and they in turn depend upon us for the chance to make better money than they could in Mexico. A good chunk of what they make infuses the Mexican economy. Everybody wins. Mexicans seem to have zero interest in flying planes into the Hollywood sign or Disneyland or the Sacramento State Capitol building. Instead, they are far more interested in rapidly building a new 9 story building where I work within clear sight of that same Hollywood sign. I can hear them every day as they work, yelling at one another---in Spanish.
There's just gotta be a lesson there. And I think there is indeed.
It seems to me that there are two fundamental reasons for much of the conflict in the world, particularly in the middle east. One is persistent, learned/taught hatred. The other is the lack of similar symbiotic relationships, which allows the hatred to flourish.
Maybe a long-term resolution of some of these conflicts might necessitate forging relationships (economic/business) where the prosperity of one side is closely linked to the prosperity of the other. Once that is accomplished, then I think it might be far simpler to defuse the hatred in people's hearts. Certainly, people will increasingly refrain from shooting at their business partners!
NBA basketball players might hate one another and be archrivals... but put them on the same All-Star team or Olympic Dream Team and everything suddenly changes.
Or, the path from hatred to tolerance might be paved by greed and self-interest, more or less. I am suggesting that skillful and thoughtful guidance of these natural human tendencies might rather naturally bring about something that all the armies and bombs in the world cannot accomplish even by overwhelming force.
How might this be done? Well... I dunno exactly. Maybe I'm a dreamer sometimes. But I believe that because it has occurred on a large scale in the past under wholly improbable circumstances, that means it can occur again in other places, other times.
JMVHO......
**FWIWMN = For What It's Worth--Maybe Nothin' |
