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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (87869)	3/30/2003 12:55:43 AM
From: paul_philp	Respond to of 281500

In this time of war, I find it helpful to step back a little. So I went last week to NATO headquarters in Brussels, and, I must say, the view from there was illuminating. What I think I saw were some huge tectonic plates of history moving. Here's how I would describe it: 9/11 was the start of World War III, à la Pearl Harbor; the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan was the initial response, à la the North Africa campaign; the invasion of Iraq was akin to D-Day (I hope it ends as well); and now we are present at the creation of some kind of new global power structure. Ohmigod, it must be a Paradigm Shift. Doh! A little late but welcome aboard Tom. Nation-building in Iraq can't be done by the U.N. It can't be done by a committee. So what we will eventually need in Iraq is a credible peacekeeping force that is multilateral, legitimate and still led by the U.S. C'mon Tom you can say it ... maybe it wasn't all bad diplomacy, maybe it was a little bit by design. I am starting to think that George Bush is going to be the luckiest President in history over the next 6 months. A lot of very big stuff is going to go his way but it's all luck cause the poor misbegotten child, ruined by the devil's rum, is too stupid and too Christian to have known what he was doing all along. BTW, did Tom Friedman just slyly jump on the 'Paul Philp expect a big surprise in Palesitine/Israel this year' bandwagon. He slipped it in there without saying much about it. Pssst, Tom, the Arab Leauge is toast too. Shhhh! Don't tell anyone. Paul

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (87869)	3/30/2003 1:18:51 AM
From: Eashoa' M'sheekha	Respond to of 281500

RE:NATO's New Front.Cooooooooooolllllll............. Let's call it : N-E-A-T-O North – East – Atlantic – Treaty – Organization THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN -- You Look : MARBELESS HAR!

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (87869)	3/30/2003 3:43:56 AM
From: Ilaine	Respond to of 281500

>>France is fighting this idea, because it wants to see NATO, the anchor of America's military presence in Europe, wither away. But many key NATO members favor the idea, and what's really interesting is that the Russians have said they would consider sending a platoon as well, under the NATO-Russia partnership. Even the Chinese have winked their approval. Both of these big powers feel threatened by the disorder coming from parts of Central Asia and the Middle East. If France stands in the way, NATO officials say they will just work around it.<< France isn't a "real" NATO member, which surprised me when I learned it, recently. But then I wasn't surprised at all, given that it was France. The shift of the focus to Central Asia explains why Georgia and Ukraine are joining NATO and Armenia and Azerbaijan are thinking about it. "World of order" vs. "world of disorder." I wonder who coined that expression? The first time I saw it was in things written by Thomas P. Barnett at the U.S. Navy War College, so I assumed he coined it. nwc.navy.mil Just googled a tiny bit (sleepy) and all the references are to Friedman, but the article you linked reads like this is the first time he thought of it? When I hear the phrase "World of Order" I can't help thinking of the great Charlie Chaplin movie, "Modern Times," where he tries (without success, hilariously) to cope with an assembly line. Personally, looking around at the clutter that surrounds me, I live in the "World of Disorder" and would rather not have the US military sent to straighten me out. I could use a maid, though.;^)