(Overheard in a North London coffee shop this morning)
Man One: "He was just one of those great guys, you know. Everything was so much better when he was around."
Man Two: "I know. Once he passed away, it was then it all started to go wrong for us. I mean, everyone just fell out big time."
Man One: "Yeah. After Tito died... well, I moved here!"
Tito was the communist leader of Yugoslavia. His death in 1980 eventually led the country to break apart in civil wars in the early 1990s.
Thursday 19 September 2013
Monday 9 September 2013
Things What Students Say #1
Today I accompanied a history department trip to the British Library so the new Lower Sixth could visit the 'Propaganda: Power and Persuasion' exhibition (which, if you have a free afternoon in London and £9 to spare, is well worth the trip!). They all seemed to really enjoy it, and even possibly learnt something from it.
*However*... for me, the best bit of the trip was listening to the conversation on the tube on the way down:
"If you think about it, why do we really need clothes?"
"I don't understand matching socks. Do you think it's a corporate conspiracy?"
"No, I do think humour is genetic. But only Jewish humour."
"If there was a fire, you'd never get the mattress out my window, so I'd have to use pillows and aim my jump really well..."
"I mean, after a while it was really obvious he was trying to hit on me..." "That'll make things really awkward when he comes to mark your coursework." (Particularly concerned about that one!)
*However*... for me, the best bit of the trip was listening to the conversation on the tube on the way down:
"If you think about it, why do we really need clothes?"
"I don't understand matching socks. Do you think it's a corporate conspiracy?"
"No, I do think humour is genetic. But only Jewish humour."
"If there was a fire, you'd never get the mattress out my window, so I'd have to use pillows and aim my jump really well..."
"I mean, after a while it was really obvious he was trying to hit on me..." "That'll make things really awkward when he comes to mark your coursework." (Particularly concerned about that one!)
Sunday 8 September 2013
The End of the Post 9/11 World Order
The impotence of the Western world in the face of the chemical weapons attack in Syria has bordered on the farcical. In the Loop has been shown not just to be a satirical throw back to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, it's proved itself prophecy as well. We could well be seeing the end of the post 9/11 world order.
Now hang on, I hear you cry (well I don't, but let's make some presumptions). Surely the post 9/11 world order is alive and kicking? Isn't the USA planning punitive strikes against a Middle Eastern country? With some nasty dictators and Islamist rebels thrown into the mix? How is this any different to everything we've seen since 2001?
It isn't. I'm talking about 9/11 in British English. That is, November 9th. By an amazing coincidence, the world also changed on that date too. Because, on 9/11/1989, the Berlin Wall was breached by thousands of East German protesters, who crossed into West Berlin. There was no better symbol of the collapse of the Communist world than that. The Western world emerged triumphant from that conflict, and the values of the United States reigned supreme. The USA became the world's sole superpower. As a result, it could act however it wanted around the world. For example, the Iraqi regime was subject to American bombing in 1993, 1996 and 1998, before finally being toppled in 2003 by a land invasion. All done with the minimum of lip service to international law, if it was acknowledged at all. The Balkans is another good example. Under the umbrella of NATO, American warplanes pounded Yugoslavia in 1999 in response to attacks on Kosovo. In 1998, cruise missiles truck targets in Sudan and Afghanistan, in response to bombings of American embassies in Africa. The invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan are also cases in point; with Iraq the UN security council specifically forbade the invasion. It still went ahead. It appeared as if the USA could get away with it. No country or body seemed to be able to force them to stop.
It can't be a coincidence that the collapse of America's economic prowess has coincided with the waning of the Pax Americana. Since 2007 the whole capitalist system has been battered and bruised. At the same time, the ability of the US to project its will by force has been in notable decline. The 2011 Libya campaign may well mark the last time the UN security council agrees to back Western military adventurism. A potent mix of imperial overstretch, war-weariness at home, and the increasing assertiveness of countries like Russia and China are coming together to act as a block to the USA. This can be seen over Syria. Not only is the UN security council deadlocked, the US appears very reluctant to proceed at all. It certainly cannot persuade the Russians and Chinese to turn a blind eye as they have done for so long.
The United States remains the most powerful military and economic force in the world. It will continue to use that power as part of its foreign policy. And much of its foreign policy will remain focused on 'The War on Terror' (even if the name has been ditched). In that respect, the post 9/11 world is alive and well. But the nearly quarter of a century in which the United States of America could act as it willed, with no regards for international bodies or the opinions of other countries, appears to be passing. The world born as the Berlin Wall was hacked apart may well be coming to a close.
Now hang on, I hear you cry (well I don't, but let's make some presumptions). Surely the post 9/11 world order is alive and kicking? Isn't the USA planning punitive strikes against a Middle Eastern country? With some nasty dictators and Islamist rebels thrown into the mix? How is this any different to everything we've seen since 2001?
It isn't. I'm talking about 9/11 in British English. That is, November 9th. By an amazing coincidence, the world also changed on that date too. Because, on 9/11/1989, the Berlin Wall was breached by thousands of East German protesters, who crossed into West Berlin. There was no better symbol of the collapse of the Communist world than that. The Western world emerged triumphant from that conflict, and the values of the United States reigned supreme. The USA became the world's sole superpower. As a result, it could act however it wanted around the world. For example, the Iraqi regime was subject to American bombing in 1993, 1996 and 1998, before finally being toppled in 2003 by a land invasion. All done with the minimum of lip service to international law, if it was acknowledged at all. The Balkans is another good example. Under the umbrella of NATO, American warplanes pounded Yugoslavia in 1999 in response to attacks on Kosovo. In 1998, cruise missiles truck targets in Sudan and Afghanistan, in response to bombings of American embassies in Africa. The invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan are also cases in point; with Iraq the UN security council specifically forbade the invasion. It still went ahead. It appeared as if the USA could get away with it. No country or body seemed to be able to force them to stop.
It can't be a coincidence that the collapse of America's economic prowess has coincided with the waning of the Pax Americana. Since 2007 the whole capitalist system has been battered and bruised. At the same time, the ability of the US to project its will by force has been in notable decline. The 2011 Libya campaign may well mark the last time the UN security council agrees to back Western military adventurism. A potent mix of imperial overstretch, war-weariness at home, and the increasing assertiveness of countries like Russia and China are coming together to act as a block to the USA. This can be seen over Syria. Not only is the UN security council deadlocked, the US appears very reluctant to proceed at all. It certainly cannot persuade the Russians and Chinese to turn a blind eye as they have done for so long.
The United States remains the most powerful military and economic force in the world. It will continue to use that power as part of its foreign policy. And much of its foreign policy will remain focused on 'The War on Terror' (even if the name has been ditched). In that respect, the post 9/11 world is alive and well. But the nearly quarter of a century in which the United States of America could act as it willed, with no regards for international bodies or the opinions of other countries, appears to be passing. The world born as the Berlin Wall was hacked apart may well be coming to a close.
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