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Nationalism vs Empire

Reader comment on item: The Left vs. Israel

Submitted by SAKOVKT (United States), May 31, 2016 at 08:09

Eternal trends are more useful for us, not in the know, in figuring out contemporary politics.
The drive for empire and power is eternal and always opposed by the nation state.
With every victory, the victor is confronted by more powerful enemies.
The end of this is empire.
If the empire offers a good deal, a collective security and economic arrangement without intruding too much on local autonomy, the empire lasts.
From the ancient Persian empire of Cyrus to the 19th Century British empire, this worked.
These empires failed when they became frivolous and oppressive with their imperial power. Same can be said of Lord North's government during the American Revolution.
Today's Left is Bolshevik in origin. "Workers of the World, Unite" is basically an imperial scheme.
Islam is also an imperial scheme.
No wonder, then, that the Jihad and Western Left are in collusion, no matter their ideological differences.
The Lust for Power has always superseded ideology.
Military necessity takes even less note of ideology.
That's why the "Democracies" of WW2 allied with Soviet Russia, a 180 degree turn on Red Scare of 1919.
Protestant, Catholic and even Muslim forces have found strange alliances throughout European history.
Israel is the "Jewish State". It's Nationalist.
So is Egypt.
IS and the "EurAbian" Multi-Cultis are Imperial. Turkey, Russia and Iran seem to be Imperial.
Until new empires are established, if they are, the Nation States are free to solve their own problems based on their own priorities in which security should supersede religious ideology.
Note that Russia and Iran are hardly ideological cousins but are allies.

Nationalism is also rising in the European Union because Brussels has violated the eternal rules of empire.

In America, the rise of Donald Trump, a Nationalist, is part of the same phenomena.

The post-1945 world order is collapsing.

The New Deal, Keynesian empire is bankrupt. It's socialist civil rights movement has become a caricature of itself.

The American Empire never looked like one because it was built on "foreign aid", or bribes, and a WhackaDoodle World Congress, League of Nations cum U.N.
But it did attempt imperial duties : collective economic benefits and collective security.
But it's gone.
We are in a period of dissolution, in which new alliances and new attempts at empire will occur.
It's messy and it's going to get a lot messier.
The idea of battening down the American hatches isn't a bad one.
Staying out of foreign politics as much as possible isn't a bad idea, either, since it has become even less predictable than it ever was.
And it may just be, that a major part of Israel's problem has been turning to America as a surrogate British Imperial Authority as an ally rather than running its affairs in its own region a genuine nation state.

Consider: Netanyahu insists that Israel is on the front line of the Western fight against terrorism. Well, most Muslim states see it similarly, as a Western Imperial venture, and that is largely their problem with it. Israel can't affect regional politics that much but its American ally can. Perhaps, with that ally removed, collective regional security will become the priority rather than the perception of Western imperialism.
One thing for sure, what we've done hasn't worked.
So, time to try something else!

Submitting....

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Reader comments (15) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Israel and the Left [108 words]LawrenceDec 29, 2018 05:55246848
1When is the Israeli government stopping in deluding itself that the Arab/Palestinians want peace? [288 words]YJ DraimanJun 20, 2016 11:41230088
The 1929 Arab Riots in Hebron and Massacre of the Jews - Every Jew must read this article [1194 words]YJ DraimanJun 24, 2016 01:32230088
The Left is the new Anti Israel??? [106 words]SabreKaiJun 7, 2016 10:45229864
1Return to the Future.... so much like the past... [138 words]Jon, a Brit in EurolandJun 1, 2016 19:29229785
The Oldest Hatred [138 words]Jon, a Brit in EurolandJun 1, 2016 19:27229783
1Reactions to European and leftist anti-semitism [26 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Arthur H. Schore, M.D.May 31, 2016 15:28229766
1The Missing Piece of the Puzzle? [594 words]Ron ThompsonMay 31, 2016 14:18229764
Israel and the Left [199 words]Martin SchaffelMay 31, 2016 13:39229763
Bernie Sanders Helps Republicans [156 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
DaveMay 31, 2016 09:47229760
Nationalism vs Empire [549 words]SAKOVKTMay 31, 2016 08:09229755
Remarkable that Israel extracts no price from its alleged 'friends'/allies etc for these hostile acts [13 words]MarkMay 31, 2016 07:43229753
Nothing surprising [59 words]VijayMay 31, 2016 05:58229751
Biden, next US President? is anti-Netanyahu and probably anti-Israel [482 words]Michael SMay 31, 2016 00:58229749
Please explain [26 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Nachman RosenbergMay 31, 2016 00:37229746

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