In the post Soviet, post U.S., G-XX and BRIC (Br, In, China) era there is little room for ideology. Indeed looking at the G-20 press release, one wonders why they met since the only noticeable item is reiteration of the commitment to help global recovery.
This is good if you believe that economic well being of the masses (about 1/2 of Earth’s population) shold be the main objective. Regardless of the ‘moral’ implications of this approach, that is bad news if you are Iranian (inside Iran), Burmese (Myanmar), Iraqi and a few other countries and regions, albeit for different reasons. The world will no longer support you based on human rights or any other non-economic consideration.
Welcommmmmme… to the machine. Pinning hopes on a ‘better’ world based on this emerging ‘order’ makes for a warm fuzzy feeling but as the Chinese say, be careful what you wish for. Look at the track records of each of those nations and you notice the spotty pasts.
Meanwhile, U.S. is no longer in the power seat. The overplay of U.S. military might exemplified by Bush Jr. is now balanced by a relatively quiet underplay. Europeans have no interest in pushing democratic agenda and glad to maintain their relatively stable setup for now.
The net effect is a world that only understands pure economic contexts. Of course, one could argue that has always been the case. But now without any umbrellas and guises of Human Rights, democracy, etc. Certainly, there is a significant part of the world, that has never experienced freedom and never will. One could further argue that here in America we barely have a democracy.
The G-xx, BRIC, U.S., Russia and the rest are all increasingly driven by internal economic interests, controlled by fewer and fewer individuls and entities representing a smaller percentage of their populations. Rothkopf elaborated it nicely in a mid 2008 http://www.nowpublic.com/tech-biz/david-rothkopf article.
Post global finacial crisis, we have all inherited a world that is run by essentially the same institutions as before but fewer of them (never mind the Keynesian vs. Friedman sideshow). The 20 or so key wall street key players are now cut to half controlling the same and even larger asset pools. Sound familiar?
None of this is good news for Iran. Alas, Iranians will need to fight to the bitter end if we are to see a resemblance of normalcy in Iran as we don’t seem to have the Feng Shui and odds are stacked heavily against us. In a strange twist of faith we are at historical crossroads not just for Iran but for the world. The braves fighting in streets of Iran are fighting for freedom from islamic tyranny but unwittingly and possibly aware that they are the bleeding edge of a much larger war that is ideological at its core. Perhaps Iranians can save the world from itself in process of saving our heritage and Khake Pake Iran.
Now pick up your thoughts, ideas, voices, pens, recorders, youtube… and as the war takes shape, fight any little battle you can for Iran.
