Dateline: Above the garage in Portsmouth RI, 1 January 2005
Barnett
.............I look across the front page of the Times today and I see plenty of things amidst the war and the current disaster that speak to the emergence of new rules, which I believe are almost always a reason for optimism in pluralistic states.
So the U.S. is working harder to put out on the table what it thinks are the new rules in dealing with terrorism suspects ("U.S. Spells Out New Definition Curbing Torture," by Neil A. Lewis). Did those new rules come only after abuse came to light? Sure. But frankly, that's how new rules come about in our system all the time. That's why the press is so important, and Congress too, and then there's the courts, and the Ralph Naders of the world—all good stuff. Scandals are never a bad sign. Show me a place with no scandals and I'll show you a dictatorship. Scandals are the mother's milk of new rules.
Then I see the current premier in Ukraine bowing to the reality of the second vote ("Premier in Ukraine Quits, Giving Way To Opposition Rule," by Steven Lee Myers). That, in itself, is an amazing new rule set—just showing the possibility of reversing significant voter fraud in a young, rather divided democracy. After the poisoning of Yushchenko, his comeback is very Yeltsin in its stunning victory. Here's hoping both he and Ukraine do better with that moment than the Russians did. But still, what a sign for hope, not just for Ukraine, but frankly, for Russia too. Ukraine has been historically the great conduit of new ideas and trends from Europe to Russia. So you have to hope on that again.
Clearly the White House sees a new rule set on this humanitarian disaster ("U.S. Vows Big Rise In Aid For Victims Of Asian Disaster, subtitle #1 = "Relief Delivery Lags as Deaths Pass 140,000," by Robert D. McFadden; and subtitle #2 = "$315 Million Jump: U.S. Says 40 Nations Pledge $1.2 Billion in 'Outpouring,'" by David E. Sanger and Warren Hoge), and thus it plussed up its pledge total dramatically (9-fold, just like that). One of the things I learned in doing the after-action report for the United Way of Rhode Island concerning the infamous Station Nightclub Fire is that the aid community, when faced with an unprecedented situation, is easily overwhelmed by the amount of giving, so it quickly becomes a crisis for that community in addition to the affected community. It is very much the 9/11-effect of a massive outpouring of sympathy, but the question quickly becomes, How best to handle that enormous flow?
My answer, of course, is to have an international force capable of not just peacekeeping/making in conflict situations, but likewise optimized for reconstruction and stabilization efforts in both post-conflict and post-disaster environments. Imagine what a military force of say one million troops, working hand in glove with perhaps twice as many civilian counterparts and organized from countries across the Core could be doing right now in response to this disaster. No surprise that the "core regional group" spearheading the effort is made up of Core countries India, U.S., Japan, and Australia. Perhaps new understanding among such Core pillars will yield new rules for future joint endeavors.
It's also clear that new rules are emerging within both Indonesia and India regarding the local response ("As Officials Falter, the New Rich Roll In to Help," by David Rohde and Amy Waldman). After all, these are countries that are on the go economically, and they're growing , so there's new wealthy elites that can no only push the government to improve its response through protestation, but can actually spur the government on by setting their own fine example of putting their money with their mouths are. These aggressive efforts by the new wealthy to go above and beyond past expectations of private-sector responses are likely to create new rules in both Core India and Seam State Indonesia, and I see much good in that.
So all in all, a sense that new rules are always challenging our sense of what is possible, and what can change. And that is a good way to start any year. |
