The World–Where Are You Heading?
EDITORIAL, 18 Sep 2017
#499 | Johan Galtung - TRANSCEND Media Service
Liu Xiaobo passed away. What is the–not so hidden–truth about him?
Answer: His speeches and writings show enthusiasm for the 100-year English colonization of Hong Kong, wishing 300 years colonization of China, celebrating the US war in Afghanistan, hoping for atomic weapons. He got the Nobel Peace Prize for democratization of China, had the freedom of speech, but the prize communicated as a provocation. The prize could easily have been given to their Charter, not to Liu Xiaobo.
Norway’s security–what are the threats?
Answer: Given the location, an invasion by USA or Russia to prevent the other from doing so. The situation is reminiscent of the threat from England, Germany and USSR to prevent one of the other from doing so in 1940; what happened was England and Germany violating Norwegian neutrality, fighting a battle on Norwegian territory. USSR nothing till they fought German troops in the extreme North losing more soldiers to liberate Norway than Norway during the war, stopping when the Norwegian government in refuge in London told them to do so, thereby making it possible for Germany to destroy Northern Norway.
Norway’s defense today–what is the story?
Answer: A one-sided offensive capacity directed at Russia for a first or second strike, the coast and inland defenseless with 248 of 249 districts (“Heimevernet“, home land defense) incapable of their job.
Why Russia as Chosen Enemy; the real story, the alternatives?
Answer: The tradition dates from the 395 A.D. division of the Roman Empire into a Catholic and an Orthodox part, the former adopting the Latin script, the latter Greek and (derived) Cyrillic scripts (Russia, Serbia).
Who is Vladimir Putin? Is there an untold truth? The End?
Answer: A highly gifted former KGB official knowing the West better than West knows Russia, restoring Russia from CIA’s Yeltsin, harking back to the Orthodox roots of Russia, deeply religious, and beloved.
Why the “Yellow Peril”; China past, future, present, alternatives?
Answer: An old Western tradition: the West is Iberian and Anglo, the South Muslim-pagan, the East is dangerous and more so the further East. Ignorance of Chinese dynasties, 2,000 nationalities, China as a state only from 1912, Chinese civilization = Daoism-Confucianism-Buddhism.
Who is Xi Jinping? Is there an untold truth? The End?
Answer: Deeply religious Buddhist, tied to his theory and practice of “Win-Win deals” benefiting both parties, with China or not, weaving the state system together positively, convinced that such forces are stronger than negative forces. Multilateralism is missing; China soon with the world’s biggest economy comes on top with most deals.
Why is USA so belligerent, the real story, the alternatives?
Answer: Because of the idea of a divine mandate as “chosen people with a promised land”, Obama’s “exceptionalism” for the UN General Assembly, by Trump taken for granted, above international law. The Pentagon study, “American Empire is collapsing,” demands “massive expansion of military-industrial complex to maintain global ‘access to resources'”, not the normal way through trade, the American way.
Who is Donald Trump? Is there an untold story? The End?
Answer: The psychopathic, clinically autistic, narcissistic-paranoid president of a state suffering from exceptionalist narcissism and “us vs. them” paranoia. The dictatorial prerogatives of the US president, including the pardon institute–maybe even himself–can be very long-lasting if re-elected till 2024. He has changed from America First to Western civilization vs barbarism. Ending with Amendment 24[i] and declaring him unfit is unlikely. Isolation by Western countries?
Why is Israel so belligerent; the reality, the alternatives?
Answer: Because of the idea of a divine mandate as “chosen people with a promised land”, Genesis 15:18: repossessing what is theirs. By that theory there are many areas in the world some might like to repossess.
An alternative would be for Jews to keep Israel by international law {“4 June 1967 Israel”) and live all over in Muslim lands as before, being people of The Book, the kitab, not constructing violent encounters. Conciliation needed.
Who is Binyamin Netanyahu? Is there an untold story? The End?
Answer: A gifted believer in the above, knowing that Israel needs US support to expand into nine countries, using AIPAC. More problems than ever:
- Losing the war instigated in Syria to Iran, Shia, Hezbollah presence.
- Losing particularly support of women in diaspora due to the conflict between the Orthodox Judaism adopted by Israel and the access of Jewish women to the Wailing Wall.
- Also over general Holy Sites jurisdiction.
This may be the end of Netanyahu rule.
What is happening to the EU; the untold story, alternatives?
Answer: “A dream come true” for France and Germany (“Communauté Europeenne, pensée par les Français, payée par les allemands“).
They are now liberated from US pressure via UK and UK negativism, can do their own thing possibly multi-speed, and the € as common currency.
What is happening to the West = USA + EU+, the untold story. The End?
Answer: Some is due to trumpism, some to the proximity of the EU+ to Russia and the in-betweens, knowing them better and seeing options beyond limited US understanding. That may change; USA may come closer to EU+.
What is happening to NATO? The untold story. The End?
Answer: No longer as it was; most European members declaring that they will no longer fight US wars. USA remain in command. The USA could fight their own wars alone–that is currently happening–so could the Europeans with an EU army in the making. The end of NATO.
Japan vs Russia-Two Chinas-Two Koreas over islands, what can be done?
Answer: Joint ownership of Kurile lands with Russia, Senkaku-Diaoyu with the Chinas, Takeshima-Dokdo with the Koreas, sharing net profits.
West vs Russia over and in Ukraine; the real story, what can be done?
Answer: Very simple: for one state with two nations, Ukrainian and Russian, a “smart” federation, the Ukrainian part free trade with EU, the Russian part good access to Russian gas-oil (not fossil, deep).
India vs China-Muslims in Kashmir; the real story, what can be done?
Answer: The basic story is a Muslim majority that will never accept Indian rule; the solution may be an Indo-Pak condominium heading for independence and joint ownership–with China–of the contested glacier.
Latin America-the untold story of the past. And future alternatives?
Answer: Let Latin America be Latin America, there has been much too much West. The trend is toward Latin American-Caribbean unity, the general world regionalization for dialogue and cooperation on equal terms with Anglo-America; US efforts to stop or delay will not work. China should act less bilaterally, more with respect for the region.
Africa-the untold story of the past. And the future alternatives?
Answer: Let Africa be Africa, there has been much too much West. The trend has been for a long time toward African Unity, the general world regionalization. The key colonizers, England and France, should learn from Italy, apologize for their crimes, compensate, concile.
Why so much inequality in so many countries, and what can be done?
Answer: Positions with permanence and security were abolished in favor of jobs on a “hire and fire” basis. Except for those at the top who profit from products produced cheaply, exporting with enormous profits. Massive general strikes against “jobs”, for positions, are needed.
Jurisprudence and the legal model; why not, and the alternatives?
Answer: A deeply rooted model seeing social reality as actors, individual or collective, responsible for their acts, answerable to the law. An indispensable perspective to be enriched with a systemic perspective: action is not only conditioned by actor intention and capability, but also by good and bad structures; hence changing bad structures, not only punishing illegal actors, or restoring them.
NOTE:
[i] The Twenty-fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax. [Wikipedia]
________________________________________
Johan Galtung, a professor of peace studies, dr hc mult, is founder of TRANSCEND International and rector of TRANSCEND Peace University. Prof. Galtung has published more than 1500 articles and book chapters, over 470 Editorials for TRANSCEND Media Service, and more than 170 books on peace and related issues, of which more than 40 have been translated to other languages, including 50 Years – 100 Peace and Conflict Perspectives published by TRANSCEND University Press. More information about Prof. Galtung and all of his publications can be found at transcend.org/galtung.
Johan Galtung Park ‘por la Paz’ in Alfaz del Pi, Benidorm, Spain
Tags: China, Peaceful Transformation, Politics, Russia, Trump, USA, World
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 18 Sep 2017.
Anticopyright: Editorials and articles originated on TMS may be freely reprinted, disseminated, translated and used as background material, provided an acknowledgement and link to the source, TMS: The World–Where Are You Heading?, is included. Thank you.
If you enjoyed this article, please donate to TMS to join the growing list of TMS Supporters.
This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC 4.0 License.
India Pakistan joint control of Kashmir? And Would US allow that?? Highly unlikely at present conditions maybe in Future once the power wanes for the last great bastion of hope for West.