tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post5276437659088095154..comments2024-03-29T02:03:49.151-04:00Comments on History Unfolding: Great Wars and HistoryDavid Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020082243968071584noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-43966974113180055582016-01-08T10:46:03.355-05:002016-01-08T10:46:03.355-05:00"Simply put, the wars of the modern era have ..."Simply put, the wars of the modern era have been fought for ideas,..." The ideas in conflict today are not just those of Western secularism vs Sharia government. Within Islam, the centuries old idea of who is the legitimate heir to Mohammed, e.g., Sunni vs Shiite, and among Sunnis, the more recent literal vs liberal interpretation of the Koran are evident. Recently, the actions of Saudi Arabia and Iran in their latest conflict are tinged with a Persian vs Arab flavor. There are elements of secularism competing as well, especially in Turkey and Iran. The key question is how can these competing ideas be resolved. It seems preposterous to conclude that the Western world can resolve these conflicts either diplomatically or militarily. The solutions must come from among those holding the competing memes in the Middle East. Only where these conflicts spill over outside the Middle East, terrorism in the West for example, should the West carefully intervene, and only to contain the struggle that is ongoing there. It seems that this is the current US strategy.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11629116622092214120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-9269736633643302972016-01-03T07:27:19.380-05:002016-01-03T07:27:19.380-05:00
“There is a very real chance, it seems to me, th... <br />“There is a very real chance, it seems to me, that we will become two countries, de facto if not de jure, just as we were in the years immediately before the Civil War.”<br /><br /><br />That may not be such a bad thing. Since America claims it is the indispensable nation, maybe the world would be better off if there were two, just in case one breaks.Gloucon Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05218027862578514587noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-87533877761962725192016-01-02T18:05:36.768-05:002016-01-02T18:05:36.768-05:00Professor
Interesting post.
I doubt most people ...Professor<br /><br />Interesting post.<br /><br />I doubt most people understand what you mean, here and there, eg re fragmentations of subcultures.<br /><br />But, true nonetheless. <br /><br />It is all about never having come together, or ever even having had a real chance of so doing.<br /><br />all the best<br />Bozonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18078858723231122013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-52578067258284821382016-01-02T12:31:11.276-05:002016-01-02T12:31:11.276-05:00I think kennedy assassination, pearl harbour, 9/11...I think kennedy assassination, pearl harbour, 9/11 are key turning points. One could read and write libraries on these events and come out believing what one wanted to from the beginning. That said. A billion new people each decade. More CO2 from old and newly industrializing countries just growing the problem. Humans are ravaging earth and holocene isl likely over. USA as a regional power limited within its borders like spain or turkey or brazil would be a different world. Will this be result of trajectory of a nonparticipatory democracy, controlled by moneyed interests? European kings and dictators miscalculated often and lost advantage and power for their countries. I think egoistic neocon led foreign policy, financials dominated debt laden economy will lead there. Overreach, overindebtedness, hubris. Simple formula. Cathartic massive war with possibility of rebuild, restructuring almost more enticing than a slow grinding decline with increasing decay, poverty, disillusionment. Strauss and Howe counted on cathartic renewal to overcome mutual hate in country or similar. Decay seems worst possible option.Energyflowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14476915209268786507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-91381854224304792082016-01-02T09:02:35.821-05:002016-01-02T09:02:35.821-05:00Mr. Boyle,
Yes, I have to agree that if you ...Mr. Boyle,<br /><br /> Yes, I have to agree that if you tried reading American Tragedy and especially The Road to Dallas, instead of David Talbot, your own sense of the history of that era might be more accurate. And I would repeat that in many ways the whole world was better off at the height of the Cold War than in is now. But I'll stop there.David Kaiserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05020082243968071584noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-412713509358819822016-01-02T03:25:31.515-05:002016-01-02T03:25:31.515-05:00You overlooked in your analysis that WWII was won ...You overlooked in your analysis that WWII was won through the establishment of a military industrial complex and CIA type organizations. The Dulles type paranoia of the ruling conservaative elite overreacted to communist threat throwing away a chance for peace, destabilizing liberally elected governments globally. Similar is happening since end of cold war. Peace dividend is being thrown away infavour of paranoid global dominance dreams. This is the real background. Kennedy killings by dulles and co. , if true would fit perfectly into this scheme as a coup d'etat of the deep state with LBJ pushing through reforms out of guilt for his involvemeent but pushing vietnam war as a WWII vet and anti communist paranoid just like Nixon. The nexus between the financiaal and military side would be rockefeller, kissinger engineering petrodollar with the 6 day war and the oil embargo and getting their man, carter hand picked into ofice with zbiggy and staff on board as neocons, who still rule our foreign policy to all our detriment. You sound like you read history from broadsheet newspapers and have no idea about real action although I know opposite must be true. Perhaps I should read your books. Perhaps you have a big blind spot regarding USA patrriotism. USA is an oligarchy going though motions of a democracy. Kenneddy should have offed dulles whwn he had the chance.As a historical parallel we have Putin, who as ex KGB was not naive as Kennedy was and was able to maintain control despite resistance by mafias and foreign interests and work in interest of the people and not as most US and other western politicians do, to work in interst of puppet masters in financiall mi,itary industrial state. <br /><br />The cold war never got hot except as proxy. The same thing is repeating itself today and USA depp state and oligarchy are on losing side as China, Russia and co. have learned all the tricks. Western empire, now based on USA, Japan, Germany is shaky. It has no justifiable ideological support for its resistance to full partnership for Russia and China edcept for individual greed of a couple dozen oligarchs in the west who want global control. When petrodollar is gone and perhaps gold standard returns US debt financed economy and wars will collapse. China in worse shape of course but reset will hurt everyone. 3rd world, MENA wars just to control oil, the spice of george herbert's scifi series of novels. When oil is gone industrial civilization, car adddiction is gone too. Climate change, overpopulation, mass consumption, all just symptomatic of oil consumption, coal, gas. We wanted easy life. It would have been better to live poor and leave it all in the ground and stayed at 500 million population globally. WWIII would be a great blow off but I think we will suffer a slow torturous agony like Rome.Energyflowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14476915209268786507noreply@blogger.com