iHaveNet.com
World - Libya and Beyond: Why not Every Nation for Itself? | Middle East
  • HOME
  • WORLD
    • Africa
    • Asia Pacific
    • Balkans
    • Caucasas
    • Central Asia
    • Eastern Europe
    • Europe
    • Indian Subcontinent
    • Latin America
    • Middle East
    • North Africa
    • Scandinavia
    • Southeast Asia
    • United Kingdom
    • United States
    • Argentina
    • Australia
    • Austria
    • Benelux
    • Brazil
    • Canada
    • China
    • France
    • Germany
    • Greece
    • Hungary
    • India
    • Indonesia
    • Ireland
    • Israel
    • Italy
    • Japan
    • Korea
    • Mexico
    • New Zealand
    • Pakistan
    • Philippines
    • Poland
    • Russia
    • South Africa
    • Spain
    • Taiwan
    • Turkey
    • United States
  • USA
    • ECONOMICS
    • EDUCATION
    • ENVIRONMENT
    • FOREIGN POLICY
    • POLITICS
    • OPINION
    • TRADE
    • Atlanta
    • Baltimore
    • Bay Area
    • Boston
    • Chicago
    • Cleveland
    • DC Area
    • Dallas
    • Denver
    • Detroit
    • Houston
    • Los Angeles
    • Miami
    • New York
    • Philadelphia
    • Phoenix
    • Pittsburgh
    • Portland
    • San Diego
    • Seattle
    • Silicon Valley
    • Saint Louis
    • Tampa
    • Twin Cities
  • BUSINESS
    • FEATURES
    • eBUSINESS
    • HUMAN RESOURCES
    • MANAGEMENT
    • MARKETING
    • ENTREPRENEUR
    • SMALL BUSINESS
    • STOCK MARKETS
    • Agriculture
    • Airline
    • Auto
    • Beverage
    • Biotech
    • Book
    • Broadcast
    • Cable
    • Chemical
    • Clothing
    • Construction
    • Defense
    • Durable
    • Engineering
    • Electronics
    • Firearms
    • Food
    • Gaming
    • Healthcare
    • Hospitality
    • Leisure
    • Logistics
    • Metals
    • Mining
    • Movie
    • Music
    • Newspaper
    • Nondurable
    • Oil & Gas
    • Packaging
    • Pharmaceutic
    • Plastics
    • Real Estate
    • Retail
    • Shipping
    • Sports
    • Steelmaking
    • Textiles
    • Tobacco
    • Transportation
    • Travel
    • Utilities
  • WEALTH
    • CAREERS
    • INVESTING
    • PERSONAL FINANCE
    • REAL ESTATE
    • MARKETS
    • BUSINESS
  • STOCKS
    • ECONOMY
    • EMERGING MARKETS
    • STOCKS
    • FED WATCH
    • TECH STOCKS
    • BIOTECHS
    • COMMODITIES
    • MUTUAL FUNDS / ETFs
    • MERGERS / ACQUISITIONS
    • IPOs
    • 3M (MMM)
    • AT&T (T)
    • AIG (AIG)
    • Alcoa (AA)
    • Altria (MO)
    • American Express (AXP)
    • Apple (AAPL)
    • Bank of America (BAC)
    • Boeing (BA)
    • Caterpillar (CAT)
    • Chevron (CVX)
    • Cisco (CSCO)
    • Citigroup (C)
    • Coca Cola (KO)
    • Dell (DELL)
    • DuPont (DD)
    • Eastman Kodak (EK)
    • ExxonMobil (XOM)
    • FedEx (FDX)
    • General Electric (GE)
    • General Motors (GM)
    • Google (GOOG)
    • Hewlett-Packard (HPQ)
    • Home Depot (HD)
    • Honeywell (HON)
    • IBM (IBM)
    • Intel (INTC)
    • Int'l Paper (IP)
    • JP Morgan Chase (JPM)
    • J & J (JNJ)
    • McDonalds (MCD)
    • Merck (MRK)
    • Microsoft (MSFT)
    • P & G (PG)
    • United Tech (UTX)
    • Wal-Mart (WMT)
    • Walt Disney (DIS)
  • TECH
    • ADVANCED
    • FEATURES
    • INTERNET
    • INTERNET FEATURES
    • CYBERCULTURE
    • eCOMMERCE
    • mp3
    • SECURITY
    • GAMES
    • HANDHELD
    • SOFTWARE
    • PERSONAL
    • WIRELESS
  • HEALTH
    • AGING
    • ALTERNATIVE
    • AILMENTS
    • DRUGS
    • FITNESS
    • GENETICS
    • CHILDREN'S
    • MEN'S
    • WOMEN'S
  • LIFESTYLE
    • AUTOS
    • HOBBIES
    • EDUCATION
    • FAMILY
    • FASHION
    • FOOD
    • HOME DECOR
    • RELATIONSHIPS
    • PARENTING
    • PETS
    • TRAVEL
    • WOMEN
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • BOOKS
    • TELEVISION
    • MUSIC
    • THE ARTS
    • MOVIES
    • CULTURE
  • SPORTS
    • BASEBALL
    • BASKETBALL
    • COLLEGES
    • FOOTBALL
    • GOLF
    • HOCKEY
    • OLYMPICS
    • SOCCER
    • TENNIS
  • Subscribe to RSS Feeds EMAIL ALERT Subscriptions from iHaveNet.com RSS
    • RSS | Politics
    • RSS | Recipes
    • RSS | NFL Football
    • RSS | Movie Reviews
Libya and Beyond: Why not Every Nation for Itself?
William Pfaff

HOME > WORLD

 

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

The series of uprisings in the Arab world during the past two months have yet to complete their destruction of what, since shortly after the Second World War, had seemed a fixed if oppressive political order in the Muslim states of the Middle East and Central Asia, overseen by the United States.

Its good friends or formal allies were the King of Saudi Arabia, the Shah of Iran, the post-Nasser leaders of Egypt, Saddam Hussein of Iraq, the monarchs of Morocco and Jordan, the emirs of the Gulf, the president-for-life of Tunisia, and the successive presidents and generals who came to power in Pakistan. Yemen did not yet feature on the serious political map. Where are they now? Better yet, where will their successors be tomorrow? What American influence will survive? Events since January have destroyed the United States' geopolitical overlordship of the region. Possibly the gods of history are imposing a lesson.

Events have also combined with Israel's obdurate expansionism and commitment to the idea that "the Arabs" only understand violence, and, with the new Palestinian plan to demand from United Nations General Assembly recognition as an independent state under illegal foreign occupation, to undermine what Israel's leaders have assumed was the unassailable security provided by their influence over the American Congress, and over American presidents since Richard Nixon.

I do not know the familiarity of Barack Obama, or certainly that of the commander of NATO, with classical English poetry. Thus Shelley:

"'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: / Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair!'" with its concluding lines, "Nothing beside remains: round the decay / Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare / The lone and level sands stretch far away."

NATO never claimed Ozymandian rank but cannot now be seen as the effective agency of American foreign policy in the region, nor of European security for that matter, as it has been since 1949. In the absence of active American direction, it has demonstrated its lack of capacity for independent policy formulation, decision-making and efficient military action. In the Libyan operation, NATO has amounted to the improvisation of the two European members initially willing to fight, France and Britain, eventually increasing in number to fourteen NATO members plus Qatar, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates.

Of the 17 air forces active (with the U.S. in the background), six as of last weekend were actually carrying out strikes against the forces of Moammar Gadhafi's campaign to put down the Libyan insurrection. Britain alone -- so far as currently known -- has senior training officers with the rebels. Not an imposing showing for NATO. And not producing results, at this writing.

Alvaro de Vasconcelos, head of the European Union Institute for Security Studies, said on April 19 that saving Misrata from its siege by Gadhafi loyalist forces would "almost certainly" precipitate the end of the regime, "trigger an anti-Gadhafi uprising in Tripolitania and thus force a political solution." Against the background of a report of American efforts to find an African refuge for Gadhafi, Vasconcelos said that "a political solution based on the leadership of another member of the Gadhafi clan is totally unrealistic."

Valid or not as a forecast of events, this EU official's comment displays the degree to which American and West European attitudes diverge. France and Britain tried in 1999, after the fiasco of the Balkan wars, to set up a EU intervention force of 60,000, but nothing serious followed. This was inevitable. France wanted European independence, and Britain would not let loose from Washington. NATO's members had widely divergent strategic interests, and few wanted to fight, or pay, to meet any threat short of one to their survival. They are not interested in fighting other people's wars or in establishing other people's democracies. Nothing the public has seen in Iraq or Afghanistan has encouraged them to believe this is a useful effort or will succeed.

The French and British have probably learned the lesson that they and their European neighbors must look after themselves. Washington probably has had its poor judgment of NATO confirmed. Germany has had its prudent pacifism confirmed. France longs for a DeGaulle to lead France, and maybe Europe, should bad times come.

What everyone should have learned is that nations and peoples do best to look after themselves -- Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq included -- just as the Egyptians, Tunisians, Syrians, and even the Libyans and Palestinians are now doing. Even Americans might try it and give up global conquest. Think what good things could be done with an American budget that invested at home, instead of conducting trillion-dollar wars abroad.

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

 

  • China and the End of the Deng Dynasty
  • United States - Pakistan Partnership in Peril
  • Islamist Militancy in a Pre- and Post-Saleh Yemen
  • Iraq, Iran and the Next Move
  • World's Most Dangerous Man? Syrian Leader Makes Strong Case
  • A View from Syria
  • Libya and Beyond: Why not Every Nation for Itself?
  • Confidence Remains Strong in Global Markets Despite Crises
  • Latin America Provides Cautionary Tale for Middle East
  • The Arab Risings, Israel and Hamas
  • America Should Exercise Pragmatic Idealism in the Arab World
  • Richard Goldstone Recants His Report Attacking Israel
  • Middle East: Autocratic Deafness
  • A Brave Libyan Stands Up Against Rape
  • Is Pacific Fish Safe to Eat After the Disaster in Japan?
  • Demand and Disasters Complicate Global Energy Picture
  • Global Arms Trade: A Vortex of Death and Wealth
  • Arms Trade: a Filter, Not a Dam
  • Organised Crime: Joint Responsibility
  • It's Time, Mr. President: A Time for Clarity
  • Chances for a New US Foreign Policy Not Taken
  • Did the United States Give Up on Libya?
  • The Gulf Region: Anger Management
  • Saudi Arabia: Guarding The Fortress
  • Israel's Recent Political Actions Aren't Going Over Well
  • Israel: If Not Now, When?
  • A 'Reverse Beauty Pageant' for Tyrants
  • African Hydropower: Damming at What Cost?
  • United States - Pacific Relations: Pacific-Minded
  • 7 Problems That Could Derail the Global Economic Recovery
  • Technology Powers Revolutions and Saves Lives
  • Russia Stocks Soar on Rising Oil Prices
  • Japan: Heavy History
  • China: Weak Impetus for Change
  • China Sees the Evil of Plastic Bags
  • Pakistan: Educating For Tolerance
  • Immaculate Intervention: The Wars of Humanitarianism
  • AQAP and the Vacuum of Authority in Yemen
  • Japan Quake and Tsunami Among Most Costly of All Time
  • China's Economy the Key to Quelling Social Unrest
  • Syria's Stalled Revolution
  • Prudent Multilateralism in Libya
  • The Thinly Veiled Campaign for Regime Change
  • Unexpected Revelations in Libyan Intervention
  • President Obama's Most Amazing Libyan Achievements
  • Libya: Insanity Dawn
  • Obama's Half-a-Loaf War
  • Obama Said He Doesn't Mind Criticism on Libya Mission in Latin America
  • What Happened to the American Declaration of War?
  • The Power of Giving Back
  • Safety on the Cheap
  • Egyptian Elections: the Sooner, the Better
  • The Libyan Question: What Now?
  • Obama's 'Goldilocks' Doctrine
  • War Number Three
  • Un-Unified Oppositions in Bahrain and Yemen
  • Japanese Earthquake Brings Back Sad Memories
  • 5 Reasons Investors Should Not Bail on Japan
  • Japan's Nuclear Crisis Reignites Safety Debate
  • Military Involvement in Libya Costs Taxpayers Millions
  • United Nations Relevance
  • A Mother's Confession on Mothers' Day
  • Middle East Crisis: Today's Events in the Middle East
  • World's Costliest Disaster
  • Japan Crisis: Video Reports 3/23/2011
  • Israeli-Palestinian Tensions Escalating
  • Israel Faces a Culture of Hatred and Violence
  • Yemen in Crisis: A Special Report
  • Libya, the West and the Narrative of Democracy
  • Libya Crisis: Video Reports 3/22/2011
  • Japan Crisis: Video Reports 3/22/2011
  • Pakistan: Bad Investment for the United States
  • Libya Crisis: Video Reports 3/20/2011
  • The Libyan War of 2011
  • Libyan Forces Approach Benghazi
  • Libya Crisis: Implications of the Cease-Fire
  • Taming Chaos with a Personal Plan
  • The Threat to Israel From the 'New' Middle East
  • The United States Finds Itself on the Outside Looking In
  • Egypt and Tunisia Could Learn From Chile's Transition
  • Japan's Crisis for Nuclear Power
  • Chernobyl's Lessons for Japan
  • Pakistan: Bad Investment for the United States
  • Iran and the Saudis' Countermove on Bahrain
  • Japan, the Persian Gulf and Energy
  • Radiation Rising and Heading South in Japan
  • Japanese Government Confirms Meltdown
  • Officials Claim Positive Signs on Japanese Reactor
  • Nuclear Meltdown at Quake-Damaged Japanese Plant
  • U.S. Geologists Explain Science Behind Japanese Earthquake
  • The Slow Decline of North America
  • Will Libya Again Become the Arsenal of Terrorism?
  • How a Libyan No-fly Zone Could Backfire
  • Superpower Obligations
  • Caught in the Middle East Minefield
  • You Cannot Kill an Idea
  • Democracy Must Be the Future of the Middle East
  • Arab Revolutions Need Not Be Americanized
  • Bahrain and the Battle Between Iran and Saudi Arabia
  • 'New Chapter' in the Middle East
  • Embarrassing Times for Al Qaeda
  • Western Intervention in Libya Should Not Fly
  • Yemen: Divided Dissent
  • Egypt: The Road Ahead
  • Egypt: First Steps
  • That Other Middle East Protest
  • Arab World's Obsession With Israel Is Fading
  • Time to Rethink Arab Arms Sales
  • Cote d'Ivoire: Power Gridlock
  • UK - Latin American Relations: Rearranging The Deckchairs
  • Mexico: Cracking Down
  • Ireland: A Work In Progress

 

Available at Amazon.com:

Aftermath: Following the Bloodshed of America's Wars in the Muslim World

Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East (The Contemporary Middle East)

Enemies of Intelligence

The End of History and the Last Man

The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

The Tragedy of Great Power Politics

The End of the Free Market: Who Wins the War Between States and Corporations?

Running Out of Water: The Looming Crisis and Solutions to Conserve Our Most Precious Resource

Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water

Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization

The Great Gamble

At War with the Weather: Managing Large-Scale Risks in a New Era of Catastrophes

Friendly Fire: Losing Friends and Making Enemies in the Anti-American Century

Dining With al-Qaeda: Three Decades Exploring the Many Worlds of the Middle East

Uprising: Will Emerging Markets Shape or Shake the World Economy

 

Copyright 2011, Tribune Media Services, Inc.

 

Recommend

Search Powered By Google

Google Search   

ADVERTISEMENT

Advertisement

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT

Job & Career Search

career & job search                    job title, keywords, company, location
  • HOME
  • WORLD
  • USA
  • BUSINESS
  • WEALTH
  • STOCKS
  • TECH
  • HEALTH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • SPORTS

World - Libya and Beyond: Why not Every Nation for Itself? | Global Viewpoint

  • Services:
  • RSS Feeds
  • Shopping
  • Email Alerts
  • Site Map
  • Privacy