We hear an awful lot of conspiracy drenched ideas about how some shadowy elite or other is plotting world domination. But while it’s not quite as box office, the current state of international politics is so utterly beset by incompetence that you have to wonder how we made it this far as a species.
There’s no doubt that systems, especially economic systems are extremely sophisticated social structures. But they largely run themselves, incentivized by reward, dehumanized by abstraction, galvanized by procedure, and far from dependent on individual judgment.
How did we get to a point where a contemporary empire could be so dazzlingly inept? The greatest triumph of US foreign policy was the rebuilding of Europe into a stable, liberal partner through initiatives like the Marshall Plan. It took real vision to understand that the only way to tame German militarism was to substitute it with economic strength. Same with Japan. America’s bitterest enemies in World War 2 were converted into strong allies.
But almost every other strategic decision has displayed a stunning propensity for self harm. the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, the Bay of Pigs, the endless meddling in banana republics, arming groups that end up enemies – honestly, if this was a business, the shareholders would have stripped out the boardroom fittings by now.
Take North Korea and Iran. Everything North Korea says is underpinned by defense. They’re shit scared by the amount of US military bases on their doorstep, the Americans invaded them in living memory and they have all the paranoia of isolationism, so sabre rattling by America seems like an existential threat. How do you diffuse the crisis? By making them feel safe and recognising outreach as strength rather than weakness. The more the Americans up the stakes, the less the Koreans have to lose. They already feel they’re in a fight for their lives – endlessly confirming that just draws us closer to nuclear war.
Same with Iran. If the US had just beamed in cultural and economic rather than military imperialism, this theocracy would probably be gone by now. Every time a young, educated population looked like asserting themselves, the Americans would make a threat and everyone would reunify behind the national government.
The problem with propaganda is that too many in power have gotten high on their own supply. Thinking you’re in a B-list Hollywood film isn’t helping with the decision making process, and the more obvious this one dimensional view of the world becomes – where threats are Plan A, B, C and D, the more you have to ask…
Nuclear weapons have only existed for 70 years and we’ve still nearly killed ourselves. How much longer will our luck hold out if the people in charge of them don’t grow some strategic sense even if a pacifist ideal is way too much to hope for?
Cyrus Bozorgmehr 