© European Pressphoto Agency
The concept of order that has underpinned the modern era is in crisis, writes Henry Kissinger. Above, a pro-Russian fighter stands guard at a checkpoint close to Donetsk, Ukraine in July.
The concept of order that has underpinned the modern era is in crisis, writes Henry Kissinger. Above, a pro-Russian fighter stands guard at a checkpoint close to Donetsk, Ukraine in July.
The search for world order has long been defined almost exclusively by the concepts of Western societies. In the decades following World War II, the U.S. - strengthened in its economy and national confidence - began to take up the torch of international leadership and added a new dimension. A nation founded explicitly on an idea of free and representative governance, the U.S. identified its own rise with the spread of liberty and democracy and credited these forces with an ability to achieve just and lasting peace.
The traditional European approach to order had viewed peoples and states as inherently competitive; to constrain the effects of their clashing ambitions, it relied on a balance of power and a concert of enlightened statesmen. The prevalent American view considered people inherently reasonable and inclined toward peaceful compromise and common sense; the spread of democracy was therefore the overarching goal for international order. Free markets would uplift individuals, enrich societies and substitute economic interdependence for traditional international rivalries.
Comment: The US has been at war for most of her history. As of 2003, over the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for 268 of them, or just 8 percent of recorded history. For the past 70 years the US has spread death and destruction across the planet. The spread of democracy and free markets by psychopaths for international order means the control and domination of the rest of humanity.
Comment: American exceptionalism has been bandied about lately. In the eyes of psychopaths, the current US foreign policy of exceptionalism is weakening and must be re-established in order to create this so called new world order. This can only achieve more unrest in the world as more people realize the reality of the situation.