A COMMENT

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Hi,

The American people should realize the full responsibilities and importance of their nation. No one can deny, even those who despise the U.S.A. that this country has an importance and influence transcending by far its borders and encompassing the entire world. This is particularly true at this point in time of the history of human civilization. Indeed the United States of America has reached now a height of power and influence unprecedented hitherto. This is the outcome of all the struggles and violence of the twentieth century which saw the rise of this Great Mega Power after the defeat of many including German Nazism, Fascism of all kinds, and the Communist Empire. The first half of the twentieth century saw this shift of power away from the old European powers to the Emerging Giant in the New World. This shift was not a smooth and easy one, but indeed accompanied by the most violent and bloody struggles and upheavals. There were ups and downs, and sometimes even temporary defeats (for instance Vietnam), but the sum total of the inexorable historical process was the resounding triumph and prevalence of the American Super Power. Very few people could have foreseen this even as late as the eighties of the last century. And of course not all the battles were won by weapons and armies. For instance, the Soviet empire collapsed as a result of the failure of its system and inability to compete with a superior rival; a moral, economic, and political superiority; not to mention a relentless “Cold War” waged for nearly half a century.

But the logic and “dialectic” of historical evolution does seem to conform to the old “Hegelian” concept of thesis and antithesis. That is to say historical forces will inevitably tend towards the emergence of New Poles (not to be confused with the Polish people) and New rival powers. And it is not difficult to guess the powers and countries who are candidates for this new polarization. I believe, this is already happening in front of our eyes. However, “Religious fanaticism”, or if you like this pseudo-Islamic extremism, represented by, for instance, Al-Qaeda or similar groups, do not qualify as serious candidates or serious rivals for the predicted new polarization of the twenty first century. As I see it, this “War on Terror”, important as it may be, is nothing but mop up operations of some the side effects and consequences of the “Cold War”.

You may wonder: why the above preamble? And what bearing does it have on the present situation? Well, I shall answer you very briefly and concisely.
Any concept that there is possibility of a wide alliance that will support U.S. efforts and be amicable to its goals and national interests is a false hope which profoundly misinterprets the logic of historical realism. The battle lines are clearly drawn, and ally, foe, and opportunistic bystander are all quite well defined, and any notion that these can be appreciably changed by diplomacy or otherwise is an illusion.