Sunday, October 10, 2004

Food for thought

'The greatest barrier to the expansion of the zone of peace from the core is the perception within the periphery that this constitutes little more than the domination of one culture by another. These suspicions are well founded given that the peripheral states have consistently been the victims of 'Western intervention'.'

'Many wars were fought by states to achieve their mercantilist goals'

Scott Burchill (2001)

2 comments:

smokey spice said...

StinKerr said...
You seem to be ignoring the first free elections ever in Afghanistan. Despite violence and threats of violence and disruption, the people of Afghanistan voted. Perhaps you've just overlooked this.


I don't think she's ignoring anything. It's a quotation of two equally relevant political perspectives that are not necessarily specific to Afghanistan or any other nation for that matter.

The statements speak to the significance of sovereignty in any form of political evolution. Would you honestly argue that if Russia has forced a republic on France, we would have the same results? It may be a debate between the means or the ends, but for me, both are important. I would venture to say that voting for a western stylized dictator with extensive ties to the Bush dynasty (even with the fabulous sense of style)or a local war lord isn't much of a choice. No matter how much the west would like it to be one. But, that's just me.

Mitchell said...

Interesting survey on a related topic described at Japan Times.