Transformations and Transmogrifications
A good piece at the Atlantic Community on Europe's "tough" neighborhood and my comments below:
"Interesting article that frankly acknowledges the seemingly intractable nature of security competition and conflict. These things will not go away, they will always be with us, for, by in large, human nature and geography doesn't fundamentally change.
Tribalism can be ameliorated under the sway of relative prosperity, but it still lurks beneath the surface and waits for its opportunity to be unleashed, irrespective of what elite opinion considers rational and enlightened.
The irony is, that even if less and less people are willing to be "intractable" as globalization sweeps the world and attempts to rationalize and pacify the world through the purveying of prosperity, technology will facilitate the ability of even that truncated number to wreak amazing damage. That , in turn, could well be the spark that causes a "regression" in broad historical terms. That is what will allow "tribalism" to re-emerge in more overt form than it currently appears to the casual observer.
That is why there is no utopia at the end of the rainbow. History will continue to march as there will be no "end" just transformations and transmogrifications."
"Interesting article that frankly acknowledges the seemingly intractable nature of security competition and conflict. These things will not go away, they will always be with us, for, by in large, human nature and geography doesn't fundamentally change.
Tribalism can be ameliorated under the sway of relative prosperity, but it still lurks beneath the surface and waits for its opportunity to be unleashed, irrespective of what elite opinion considers rational and enlightened.
The irony is, that even if less and less people are willing to be "intractable" as globalization sweeps the world and attempts to rationalize and pacify the world through the purveying of prosperity, technology will facilitate the ability of even that truncated number to wreak amazing damage. That , in turn, could well be the spark that causes a "regression" in broad historical terms. That is what will allow "tribalism" to re-emerge in more overt form than it currently appears to the casual observer.
That is why there is no utopia at the end of the rainbow. History will continue to march as there will be no "end" just transformations and transmogrifications."
Posted by Greg R Lawson at 12/16/2009 4:24 AM 
Categories: InternationalRelations History
Tags: InternationalRelations History
Categories: InternationalRelations History
Tags: InternationalRelations History
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