[Sosfbay-discuss] Kissinger on the times we live in.

[Wes Rolley]

I listened to Charlie Rose and Kissinger talk about the times that we 
are living in.  I know that a lot of progressives discount all that he 
says because the feel he is a war criminal, but one must admit that he 
is an intelligent one, if that is your opinion. Be that as it may, I 
found that there were several things that he said which made a lot of 
sense.

Maybe the most important point that Kissinger made was that we are 
living in unusual times.  He likened it to the time when the old 
heredity empires of Europe gave way to the idea of a nation.  That was, 
in the late 18th or early 19th Century, a radical idea.  Citizens of a 
geography bound together by a common language, a common culture. 

Now, the pressures of globalization seem to challenge the idea of the 
nation as the source of order in our world.  When the problems are 
global, (he used the example of global warming) nations are not an 
effective structure to deal with them.  Add to that, the fact that the 
challenges to nations right now comes from ideologies, not other nations.

Kissinger suggested that, in the face of these two simultaneous events, 
that we might need to evolve a new way to organize society, are in fact, 
evolving it now, whether consciously or not.

Then ultimately, whatever source of order as evolves, it must be 
prepared to deal with the eventuality that there are those who are 
willing to create total chaos and mass destruction in order to succeed.  
This is the very basic concept of evil.

The second observation was that you need to understand the culture of 
those with whom you are dealing.  His first example was that of China, 
with a 4,000 year history of either being the dominant force in it's 
world, or failing to be because of internal strife... but never from 
external sources.   Kissinger still feels that the most important policy 
decisions all deal with China.

Finally, he indicated that the nature of the world at this time is that 
you can not make fundamental change by military force, but need to exert 
influence in a much more nuanced manner, to demonstrate those qualities 
which would make nations want to follow you, rather than trying to 
bludgeon them into it. (sub-text was that Bush made a mistake in Iraq).

If these observations are close to being right, that the times indicates 
we are moving toward a "new world order" (I hate to use that term 
because it has so much baggage.) of some nature, then how do we Greens 
help define what that is?

Wes

-- 

I have been impressed with the urgency of doing.
Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Being willing is not enough; 
We must do. –Leonardo DaVinci
Wesley C. Rolley
17211 Quail Court
Morgan Hill, CA 95037
(408)778-3024 - http://cagreening.blogspot.com