January
27, 2006
The
Limits of Power
A cursory glance at
the events of 2005 vividly illustrates
the limits of power. This includes worldly
power as well as military power. The
October 8th earthquake left Pakistanis
with the realization of what really
is important and forged a new sense
of community. It also re-focused attention
on Kashmir and, to India’s consternation,
the area was depicted in the West as
part of Pakistan.
The Hurricane Katrina was the biggest
story in the US in 2005. The drowning
of the great city of New Orleans exposed
the vulnerabilities of the sole superpower.
It also spotlighted the class and race
divide within America. It unveiled the
indifference of the Bush administration
to the plight of the common people.
It also was the beginning of a downward
spiral for President Bush.
Then too, in Iraq, the US casualties
surpassed the 2000 mark. Middle America
started to openly express doubts about
America’s Iraq misadventure. Observed
George Packer in his book, The Assassins’
Gate: America in Iraq:
“The uniformed services …
never seemed to ask themselves what
would happen if Rumsfeld was wrong –
what might happen to their troops once
they were in Iraq, without the necessary
forces and protection, if things did
not go according to plan. Plan A was
that the Iraqi government would be quickly
decapitated, security would be turned
over to remnants of the Iraqi police
and army, international troops would
soon arrive, and most American forces
would leave within a few months. There
was no Plan B. Many of the officers
at Central Command and the Joint Staff
had concluded that Rumsfeld …
must know what he was doing.”
There was also uproar in the US over
NSA spying on US citizens and dissident
groups opposed to the Iraq war. This
time around people were less tolerant
and accepting of civil liberty curbs
in the name of security.
In France, the uprising by young restless
Muslims added to the European unease
over the new emerging Muslim generation.
The London bombings of 7/7 and its aftermath
changed the UK’s perception of
its Muslim population and contributed
to the mounting unrest.
The induction of the new German Pope
in place of the late Polish Pope is
a step towards Euro-centrism in that
the new Pope – in striking contrast
to his predecessor – is less inclined
to inter-religious outreach and dialogue
with Muslims.
Meanwhile, the occupation situations
in Palestine, Chechnya and Kashmir continue
with no end in sight. There, significantly,
while the lands have been occupied,
the people, to date, have yet to be
vanquished. Robert Fisk remarked, in
his book The Great War for Civilization,
that “Iraq allowed the world to
forget Palestine.” But the Palestinians
struggle on: “In the Middle East,
the people live their past history,
again and again, every day.”
So what lies ahead? Soren Kierkegaard
had once said that life has to be lived
forward but understood backward. Eugene
McCarthy, US Presidential candidate,
Senator, and author of Limits of Power:
America's Role in the World, who passed
away in 2005, indicated that setting
things right is not an easy task: "There
is never a totally painless way to pull
back from either unwise, ill-advised
or outdated ideas or commitments."
The year 2005 revealed the folly and
futility of the over-reliance on the
use of force. A strategic rethink is
required to assess the challenges ahead
for 2006.
