The analogy doesn't have to present the US as the world's policeman, but rather just a group that is more legitimately armed.
The key point of his post was "You seem to be starting from the premise that every country should be considered exactly the same as every other country, regardless of past history and present rhetoric. I don't agree with those premises."
I also don't agree with those premises.
And yes, every country should be considered the same as far as the sovereign rights are concerned.
Every country has the same sovereign rights, but there is no world government to enforce those rights or to be a fully legitimate arbiter between different claims. The world resembles the law of the jungle more than it resembles a fully ordered society. But its not totally the law of the jungle. There is some collective action, (or at times relatively unilateral action or action by small groups of the most powerful) to act against those that act in very threatening or unreasonable ways.
In the US there is a 2nd amendment, my neighbor has as much right to be armed as I do. But if my neighbor announced, "I'm going to get a gun and as soon as I do I am going to shoot you between the eyes", I would be justified in trying to prevent my neighbor from arming himself. If there was a gun on the ground and he dove for it I would be justified in kicking it away and then attacking him if he went for it again. I'd be justified in shooting him (if I had a gun) if he reached for a gun. And I would be justified in doing this despite the fact that I live in a relatively ordered society, that has government and a police force. If there was no police force to call on, if I lived in a situation of relative or complete anarchy, I would be justified in taking action even against a less immediate or direct threat. Countries don't have any police force or higher world order to call upon. They are almost like the individual in an anarchy, who has to defend himself. Under those circumstances if someone threatens to kill you, and tries to make a weapons to do it you are justified in using force to prevent them from getting a weapon. |
