Home Scarecrow Empires and Broken Alliances
Home Scarecrow Empires and Broken Alliances

Scarecrow Empires and Broken Alliances

Prime Minister Netanyahu's address to congress was less about the contents of his speech and more about the familiarity. Like Tony Blair, he was startlingly at home here. His presence an instinctive reminder of an alliance based on commonality and fellowship, weighed against the realpolitik of multinationalism. The warmth in his tone countering the cold counsel of foreign policy hands demanding more pressure.

The chilly reception that Gordon Brown and Benjamin Netanyahu received on their visits from the Obama Administration are post-modern fracture points in the old friendships. The instinctive kinship that Blair and Netanyahu called on are completely alien to Obama who feels far more warmth toward Egypt or Indonesia, than England and Israel. But Obama's foreignness to the old traditions is only a small fracture point in the larger break.

The US and EU have become empires without an empire, obsessively trying to maintain a world order based on multinational alliances and international law. The transition of Russia and China to capitalist states has eliminated any need for the order as a counterweight to Communism. Instead through such  organizations as the United Nations, where the majority vote means global mob rule, the blade of the order is turning against the alliance of nations that founded it.

The obsession with creating a Palestinian Arab state, in a region already chock full of Sunni Arab states, is not about peace with Israel. It's about pacifying restive Muslim populations around the world and inside Europe. The countries that are most bent on breaking up Israel, have sizable Muslim minorities, business interests in the Middle East and concerns about terrorism.

The British Empire went full circle from endorsing a Jewish state, to fighting against it tooth and nail, even using its own commanders as mercenaries on the Arab side. The reasoning was the same then as it is now. Maintaining British influence in the region would be easier without having a Jewish state there to upset the Dar Al Islam.

Every Western foreign policy apparatus is dominated by the same view, that to consolidate and stabilize the Middle East, the 'one problem country' in the region must go. Or at least be diminished. Kissinger demanded that Israel lose a war to the Arabs in order to boost their self-esteem. Then Carter demanded that Israel give up the land in exchange for a treaty that the current Egyptian government has torn up. Since then presidents have pushed Israel to create a Palestinian Muslim state. Now that it has been all but created, more concessions are being demanded. And when the negotiations inevitably fail-- Israel is held to blame.

Very little of this has to do with 'peace' in the popular understanding. There are global conflicts going on all the time. Most of them far bloodier than anything in Gaza or the West Bank. These conflicts rarely make it to the front pages of newspapers or lead to boycotts and protests. Compared to the actions of Indonesia or Turkey-- nothing that goes on in Israel should get this level of attention. That it does is really not about Israel. It's about the Muslim world.

The global hegemony needs regional stability, even as it has less ability to enforce it. Armed assaults to remove governments in Iraq and Libya have stretched the resources of the US and the EU. And such nation building projects have been shown to be futile. The current push for digital democracy is even more hopeless, rewarding insurgent factions at the expense of established governments, without breaking the cycle of violence and tyranny in any way.

The US and the EU can't force the Muslim world to behave itself. Instead they pursue stability the mirage of regional stability by doing their bidding. Cracking the whip over Israel is cheap. All it requires is political and economic pressure on a single country. Which is a lot easier than applying pressure to the 57 Muslim states of the OIC to rein in terrorism and give their people a better life. Given a choice between untying the Islamic knot or chopping up Israel, the choice is simple enough.

The same worldview that demands Israel partition itself, also calls for a Ground Zero Mosque, enforced Ramadan fasting for non-Muslims and a thousand other 'accommodations' all in the name of peace. Sooner or later we will ban burning the Koran, not because there's any Constitutional basis, but because we're still trying to keep all the pieces of a sprawling angry world together. And individual freedoms and alliances don't matter in the face of that urgent chaos.

While Netanyahu came to Washington D.C. to remind Americans of friendship-- that friendship is mostly unwanted here except around election time. American and European leaders have been focused on reaching out to the Muslim world and convincing them that we are their friends. And that they should be our friends. This pathetic show of appeasement is an attempt to build links and avoid the inevitable conflict with an ascendant Islam. Even though such a Clash of Civilizations remains unavoidable.

The US and EU, without their old military and economic might at their disposal, are falling back on the goodwill of the Muslim world. Pity the Muslim world doesn't have much of that. The entire farce of Pakistani cooperation in the War on Terror fell apart in a single day. It might just as easily have been Saudi cooperation or that of half a dozen other Muslim states. None of them are committed to fighting terrorism beyond the point where it threatens them.

While the Western multinational alliance dreams of a stable world order, the Muslim world knows that stability is an illusion. That violence is constantly present and has to be directed and channeled. The paradoxical relationship between Muslim governments and Muslim terrorists is defined by this need of regimes to channel the violence away from themselves. It's a Push-Pull relationship as governments offer limited support for the terrorists to carry on their war somewhere else, while the terrorists pull back home to overthrow the government. The closest Muslim countries can come to stability is to maintain a balance of terror between all the internal factions. And that balance can only be met through ruthless repression or international terrorism.

The view of Israel as a disruptive force in the region has always been wrong. It has actually helped stabilize its enemies by giving them an outlet for their violence. This is a role that Jews have played for thousands of years as regional minorities. Whipping boys in popular uprisings and political instability. That is the role that Israel now plays for both the Muslim world and the West. But the whipping boy is a proxy for abuse. Beating him is a way to avoid dealing with the real problem. The Muslim world remains incapable of dealing with its problems. And Western political elites continue to live in denial about their own dream of a united world order.

But the foreign policy model of the US and the EU focuses on creating stability by removing destabilizing forces. But their attempts to damage Israel and remove Arab dictators actually bleeds away whatever regional stability existed, and replaces it with chaos. That is an apt description of the aftereffects of such experiments in Cairo, Baghdad or the Palestinian Authority. The US and EU cannot stabilize the Muslim world. They can only destabilize it further.

American politicians may talk the pro-Israel talk when running for office, but once they get elected, they find themselves walking in the pro-Islamic direction of a foreign policy establishment which blames Israel for disrupting the prospects for peace, radicalizing Muslim populations and impeding an East-West alliance. But this view is not only false, it's based on an unnecessary need to maintain a global order.

The end of the Cold War means that there is no longer a practical need for this scarecrow empire that the US and EU foreign policy establishments insist on maintaining. If the UN and the IMF and the rest of the tawdry bureaucracy wants to maintain a global order based on greed and mob rule, they're welcome to it. But there is no need for the United States or England or Germany to provide them with the backing to do it. The fiction of international law has unraveled a long time ago. Human rights exist only in countries where they are enforced by local laws, not international ones.

Communism could be checkmated by an international alliance, but no international alliance that includes Muslim countries and their enablers can checkmate Islam. They certainly can't checkmate that boojum known as radical Islam, which is an expression of political and religious factions within the Muslim world that has always been there and will always be there.

The left insists on shattering the old alliances, but they have nothing to replace them with. Their war on Israel is equally misguided. Their post-American order is already rotten through and through. Like Blair's speech to congress, Netanyahu's address is a reminder of a different road that is being abandoned. Alliances based not on global orders, but on friendship and the fellowship of kin cultures. A warmth that is lacking in the hollow charades of the UN and the endless peacekeeping and aid missions to the hopeless. The vision of a global order is already dead. If such an order emerges it will not be based on liberal values or international law, but on Islam.

It's time to take down the scarecrow empires, forget one world governments and international laws, and rebuild the old alliances once again.

Comments

  1. Anonymous25/5/11

    dan

    u da man

    how come you're not writing on a much, much bigger stage? how come you ain't 'syndicated' like clarence page? how come you ain't on cnn or msnbc?

    no, you're no richard cohen or eugene robinson or andrew sullivan or nick kristof. you're something else -- you're impressive.

    thanx

    spanky

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  2. Anonymous25/5/11

    and that is why on a personal level I identify with israel.

    they are not an alien culture they are my cultures roots, in it I see my ancestoral culture the biblical stories I grew up on, israel is our great great great great granpappy.

    that makes them family. and you allways stick up for family.

    islam and the arabs are on the other hand completely alien and with the now extensive knowledge I have of islam and tribal arabism that is thier culture I see only barbarism and unbeleivable cruelty. a system and culture that seems to thrive on inflicting harm.

    that is alien to me and so I will support the light and reason over the dark and the snapping teeth of the goblin hordes.

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  3. And so, it becomes clear that the only thing that can save us from the tyranny and oppression of world-government believers, is the tyranny and oppression of islamists.

    History has never been more bizarre.

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  4. Anonymous25/5/11

    And it is for this reason that Israel, regardless of the concessions she offers or the publicity campaigns she engages in, will never receive US and EU approval. Their condemnations of israel's actions are not based on an assessment of right and nor of justice but rather on appeasement of a culture and nation they see as a threat to themselves. The sooner Israel realizes this and starts basing it's domestic policy on self interests rather than foreign approvals the sooner Israel will create stability for herself

    The Doctor

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  5. Anonymous25/5/11

    The more Israel gives away the more it will be pressured to give more. The more it gives away, the less power and influence it will have. The more Israel gives, the more it will be held in contempt as a weakling.

    The corollary is for Israel to start taking. Each terrorist action involving the deaths of Israelis, Israel should annexe lands. When that runs out, seize what was Palestine and designated to Israel originally.

    Now this may lead to war, but then that gives opportunity to seize even more.

    Actually it will never go so far, as the Arabs, the US and the EU and the Lefties, will soon realise that messing with Israel does not pay.

    Israel will never have peace until Islam is wiped out. In the meantime we are ruled by a bunch of incompetents such as Obama, Cameron, and the bureaucrats of the EU.

    Sometimes I wish that we were ruled by the Chinese PM. Atleast he is an intelligent grownup, rather then the adolescents that we have.

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  6. The US, Britain and Israel are of one people.
    Obama is not. He is a stranger.

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  7. Anonymous25/5/11

    Great conclusion, one that is invisible to our policymakers and the dhimmi ones in the EU, that “The vision of global order is already dead. If such an order emerges, it will not be based on liberal values or international law, but on Islam.” The only way to counter the achievement of that order is for policymakers to acknowledge that Islam is the peril. That is, it must acknowledge the truth of the matter. But the flash card of “truth” is rarely recognized by them.

    I disagree with one statement of Daniel’s here: “The transition of Russia and China to capitalist states has eliminated any need for the order as a counterweight to Communism.” Russia and China have not transitioned to capitalism. They are not “capitalist states.” (Neither is the U.S., it is a mixed economy welfare state.) They are fascist states. Members of the governments and military of both countries are deeply invested in whatever productive enterprises exist. This is the kind of “government-business partnership” that statists in this country would like to see established in the U.S. Most Democrats and Republicans hanker for it. Fascism allows for nominal private ownership of businesses and property, but it gives the orders and designs the ends, which are usually populist or collectivist in nature and which paints the mechanics of such an arrangement with a moral patina. But, it relies on the initiation of force. The only true beneficiaries of fascism are the dispensers of pull and those who seek it.

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  8. The world have to stop abusing the whipping boy, there is no way he can endure abuse forever, it is the bullies, it is the arab states that have to be punished for their meanness, it is Islam that have to be punished for it's unholy tenets that cause terrorism all around the world!

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  9. "The US, Britain and Israel are of one people.
    Obama is not. He is a stranger."

    You are so right Lemon, which could be why Obama (or was it Michelle) has tried to drum up claims of very distant relatives who are Jewish.

    In a recent trip to Ireland Obama said the only thing missing from him and them is an apostrophe--O'Bama. He knows that people see him as a stranger.

    There is a derogatory term used to discribe non-Jews. Not Goyim, which isn't really derogatroy, and another Hebrew word which means something along the lines of you are not me. It sounds like anophry or anophre. In any event is sounds like anophrie. Simply means you are not me. Apparently used to avoid accusations of calling non-Jews goyim, which many non-Jews consider in a negative term not to to anger gentiles years ago.

    That seems to describe Obama. Can anyone fluent in Hebrews help out with the Hebrew word I am looking for?


    But there is also another word which is without doubt derogatory, no idea I can't recall at all but it is diffent from goyim or "anophrie."

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  10. Spanky--give him time. He will be, I am certain of that.

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  11. Daniel:

    I wrote a brief blog on how best to deal to describe Obama and how he seems to enchant the world despite his action. Online search of different thoughts on how to handle a man who bashes Netanyahu (the recent AIPAC meeting). This is the quote I found:

    Talmud says, "A community where flattery prevails will end in exile."

    Powerful quote. We need to stop flattering Obama and accepting his flattery.

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  12. Wonderful article, describe what is really happening in a world--totally unaware of it, or being aware and ignoring it.

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  13. Once again you have written an outstanding piece which should be required reading of every member of our government.

    Thank you, Daniel.

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  14. OOps. I have confused accum "anofrie" or something. Forget which is worse.

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  15. I, too, see the inevitable clash of civilizations. Islam will leave no choice.
    Anonymous, up above, stated that Israel has to start looking out for her own interests, with no concern for the opinion of others. I agree 100%.
    Thank you.

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  16. Anonymous26/5/11

    Some British EUMPs are realising their position is being usurped; suddenly what UKIP has been saying since its birth is coming true, but the beast is too big. How can they not know that the EU was set up, firstly as an experiment and then to be an EUSSR with countries losing their sovereignty.

    I was proud of Bibi, I was impressed that he mentioned the ancient history and told the ugly truth. I;m glad he held up Abbas for the two faced gollum gone wrong that he really is - Abbas will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state, and he represents his people, and in fact the post Arab spring ideology of the surrounding nations - and that's the long and the short of it. He really did wow everyone, us who know the truth, in a good way to make us proud, and BBC in a bad way, Jeremy Bowen, for once was speechless. However, now, I;m concerned for Mr Netanyahu's safety. kate b

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  17. Lemon

    "The US, Britain and Israel are of one people.Obama is not. He is a stranger."

    The British are very anti Israel. Why do you say Britian, the US is as one? The Liberal elite, as America turns left is anti Israel. Obama is a liberal, he represents the elitest left. His pandering to the moslems is cuz of economy. 60% of US exports are to the moslems, to say nuthin of oil

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  18. " a Clash of Civilizations remains unavoidable. "

    Which civilizations? Islam is barbarity, pure and simple. It is a murderous raiding party, based on plunder, parasitism and the annihilation of the other. A blood-cult of the most primitive sort. Coexistence is not possible.

    We are what's left of civilization and our humanity is killing us.

    ReplyDelete

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