NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.arationaladvocate.com/viewfromeyeofstorm.htm

Prophetic. Well worth the read, and I would like your comments.

http://www.arationaladvocate.com/viewfromeyeofstorm.htm

Prophetic. Well worth the read, and I would like your comments.

can you like...give a summary of that?

can you like...give a summary of that?
The central point IMO, but it is really a much too involved article to summarize:

<snip> ...Israel and any problems related to it, in spite of what you might read or hear in the world media, is not the central issue, and has never been the central issue in the upheaval in the region. Yes, there is a 100 year-old Israeli-Arab conflict, but it is not where the main show is. The millions who died in the Iran-Iraq war had nothing to do with Israel. The mass murder happening right now in Sudan, where the Arab Moslem regime is massacring its black Christian citizens, has nothing to do with Israel. The frequent reports from Algeria about the murders of hundreds of civilian in one village or another by other Algerians have nothing to do with Israel. Saddam Hussein did not invade Kuwait, endangered Saudi Arabia and butchered his own people because of Israel. Egypt did not use poison gas against Yemen in the 60's because of Israel. Assad the Father did not kill tens of thousands of his own citizens in one week in El Hamma in Syria because of Israel. The Taliban control of Afghanistan and the civil war there had nothing to do with Israel. The Libyan blowing up of the Pan-Am flight had nothing to do with Israel, and I could go on and on and on.

The root of the trouble is that this entire Moslem region is totally dysfunctional, by any standard of the word, and would have been so even if Israel would have joined the Arab league and an independent Palestine would have existed for 100 years. The 22 member countries of the Arab league, from Mauritania to the Gulf States, have a total population of 300 millions, larger than the US and almost as large as the EU before its expansion. They have a land area larger than either the US or all of Europe. These 22 countries, with all their oil and natural resources, have a combined GDP smaller than that of Netherlands plus Belgium and equal to half of the GDP of California alone.

Within this meager GDP, the gaps between rich and poor are beyond belief and too many of the rich made their money not by succeeding in business, but by being corrupt rulers. The social status of women is far below what it was in the Western World 150 years ago. Human rights are below any reasonable standard, in spite of the grotesque fact that Libya was elected Chair of the UN Human Rights commission. According to a report prepared by a committee of Arab intellectuals and published under the auspices of the U.N., the number of books translated by the entire Arab world is much smaller than what little Greece alone translates. The total number of scientific publications of 300 million Arabs is less than that of 6 million Israelis. Birth rates in the region are very high, increasing the poverty, the social gaps and the cultural decline. And all of this is happening in a region, which only 30 years ago, was believed to be the next wealthy part of the world, and in a Moslem area, which developed, at some point in history, one of the most advanced cultures in the world....

The problem is that the civilized world is still having illusions about the rule of law in a totally lawless environment. It is trying to play ice hockey by sending a ballerina ice-skater into the rink or to knock out a heavyweight boxer by a chess player. In the same way that no country has a law against cannibals eating its prime minister, because such an act is unthinkable, international law does not address killers shooting from hospitals, mosques and ambulances, while being protected by their Government or society. International law does not know how to handle someone who sends children to throw stones, stands behind them and shoots with immunity and cannot be arrested because he is sheltered by a Government. International law does not know how to deal with a leader of murderers who is royally and comfortably hosted by a country, which pretends to condemn his acts or just claims to be too weak to arrest him.

It was well-written. This entire coming century will be an issue of how to deal with growing militantism and lawlessness.

Therefore, the most urgent thing we need to focus on is not lowering ourselves to the same level of insanity.

http://www.arationaladvocate.com/viewfromeyeofstorm.htm

Prophetic. Well worth the read, and I would like your comments.
Excellent article. Thank you for sharing it.

It was well-written. This entire coming century will be an issue of how to deal with growing militantism and lawlessness.

Therefore, the most urgent thing we need to focus on is not lowering ourselves to the same level of insanity.

I agree, and the easiest way to do that is to NOT contribute to islamist propoganda by acting like an old world colonial power, and allow arab nations to simply exist without constantly fucking with them

I agree, and the easiest way to do that is to NOT contribute to islamist propoganda by acting like an old world colonial power, and allow arab nations to simply exist without constantly fucking with them
:fluffle:

Solving Problems
a) Recognise the problem.
This has been done in this article, surely it'll reach politicians too at some point.
b) Develop alternative solutions.
In this case that is either Socialism (tried but pretty much failed), pure Capitalism (may work, but be very unpopular and leads to unrest) or some sort of Third Way (no idea how that would look).
c) Implement.
Support Governments and peoples. Don't bomb them, don't force them. Support them, guide them in the right direction, while leaving all the vital decisions in their hands.
d) Review.
If that has worked (30, 40 years?), we'll be rid of the huge underclass in which Islamism has always found a rich hunting ground, we'll have fostered information freedom, physical freedom and thus political freedom. If it doesn't, go back to step a)

So far, Egypt (which led pan-Arab nationalism in the 1950s), Jordan (which is reeling now from the al Qaeda bombings), and even Libya have moderated hard-line stances. They are realizing it is in their best long-term interest to not fall into civil war and self-destruction.

Their own worst enemy is not the US, but their own violent internal wars.

They often have a "warrior" culture. A warrior is individualistic, spiritual, passionate, and self-actualizing.

The west has a "soldier" culture. A soldier is an actor of the state, secular, disciplined, and group-minded.

Hence why individual Islamic warriors are terribly brutal and effective individual killers, but why most Muslim nations have not made effective large-scale armies.

This is, of course, a gross generalization and indicates only tendencies and trends. Many people can actually operate both ways.

Yet in recent years we see a continuing lack of command control and discipline -- coups, civil wars, individual roaming death squads, non-state actors -- which shows that the upkeep of the state is secondary to individual desires for blood-letting.

By the way, "punishment" is not the same as discipline. Most military commanders will say that the best soldiers are self-disciplined. They should not have to be caned across the feet or to see someone pulled from the ranks and shot in order to keep order.

Also, this lack of lawfulness should not be painted simply upon the Muslim world. I think you could find similar deplorable states in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Respect for one's fellow human and in the ideals of just law are the first steps in self-discipline.