There are two reasons why individuals and institutions –
ranging from the lower primates to the most advanced human empires – wither
away suddenly or do so gradually: They take on more than they can handle and
get crushed, or they go into a burn-out phase till they fully exhaust
themselves.
The alpha male from the lions to the apes, and the alpha
female from the wild dogs to the tigresses reign supreme over the “tribe” as
long as they have the strength to deter a possible rival from challenging them.
But there comes a time when they make the mistake of confronting a challenger
that's ready to take over the tribe, and get so badly beaten up, they die
shortly after a fateful confrontation. Otherwise, the king or queen of the
tribe feel so weak, they move away thus avoid confrontation and let the rival
take over peacefully.
Most of the African and Asian human empires that came and
went in the ancient world, did so having exhausted themselves after a long
stay. Notable among these were the Egyptian and Chinese empires that simply
flattened out and went into a period of stagnation. The phenomenon of an empire
taking on more than it can handle and getting beaten up, started with ancient Greece . It was
followed by Rome ,
and later by every European wannabe empire, from the Fascists to the Nazis to
the colonial powers that eventually lost their colonies. This was also the time
when Japan ,
the first Asian power to try emulating the West, suffered the same fate.
So far, during the lifetime of most of us who are alive
today, we saw that twin scenario play itself out. We saw a Soviet Union quietly
surrender the title of superpower, and we saw a United
States of America get smashed mercilessly by
insignificant Third World nations of the Vietnam
and Afghanistan
caliber. But what promises to be the spectacle that will dwarf anything we've
seen so far, seems to be percolating at this time.
To see how this can happen, we look at the latest John
Bolton piece appearing in the Pittsburgh Tribune. It came under the title: “Bolton 's foreign policy priorities,” published on March
11, 2017. He discusses what he considers to be the most serious challengers
menacing the United States
today. He makes one and the same assessment about all of them, and gives one
and the same advice regarding all of them: Prepare to confront them militarily.
What should strike the reader as the work of a mind that's
not well adjusted is that Bolton starts by
complaining about an American military that has been “hollowed out.” He goes
from there to suggest that all of America 's troubles begin from the
standpoint of a weakened military. This connotes the view that a military
solution is the preferable course of action to all of America 's
troubles. At this time, America 's
challengers according to John Bolton, are these: ISIS, Iran , North Korea ,
Russia and China .
To put the ISIS problem in
the same category as all the others, is to show a severely deficient intellect.
More specifically, to mention the ISIS problem together with the China problem
is to show mental illness. Worse, to suggest that America
should “jettison the ambiguous one China policy” is to show criminal
insanity of the first order. The game that the colonial powers have played
throughout their history was “divide and conquer.” It is also the game that Israel is playing in Palestine , preparing to annex it. And it is
the game that Russia is
gearing to rectify, having made the “mistake” of partitioning itself away from
the Republics of the old Soviet Union .
When Bolton ignores these realities, suggesting that America should seek to split China , he tells the world he wishes to see America get –
not a slap on the wrist but – a blow on the head with a sledgehammer. It is not
that Bolton doesn't know the extent of the internal problems America is facing with states that wish to
secede from the Union; with ethnic groups that wish to separate and create
their own nations, and a rising southern neighbor that hasn't forgotten how America stole
chunks of it in the past. He knows all that.
So then, does he not realize that at this moment – like the
ape that lost his strength – America was put on notice by the likes of Iran,
North Korea, Russia and China, telling it to get out of their neighborhoods or
else? In fact, they are doing to America
what America
has been doing to them for decades. And if America
is going to take on China in
a matter as sensitive as threatening its unity, China will respond in kind, only
ten times more effectively.