When the alpha lion gets on with age, his young rivals notice it before he does. They begin to challenge him as to his pecking order on the food chain and his mating rights.
At
first, the alpha lion’s experience allows him to beat the younger ones who may
be stronger but do not know how to use their strength efficiently. In time,
however, the inexperienced become experienced whereas the alpha has-been,
discovers that his best days are behind him.
That
happens when one of the young challengers injures him seriously. From then on,
yesterday’s alpha male will avoid getting into a fight, and will wait for the
new alpha male to have his fill before moving in to eat the scraps of food left
behind.
This
is an allegory that can be used to explain what happens to human beings as well
as their institutions, which may range in size from a small enterprise to an
empire stretching around the globe. In fact, this happens every day to concerns
that find no one to inherit them, and it happens every so often to empires such
as Britain or France, on whose territory the sun never set when they were at
the height of their glory. But then, as dictated by nature, they shrank to
sleep at night in the dark and in solitude like the rest of us.
But
what about the United States of America? Talk to its people, and they’ll tell
you they are not interested in building an empire in the sense of having
colonies whose people become subjects of the head of state in the District of
Columbia. They’ll assert that all they want is make sure no one in the world
can hurt them and escape punishment.
For
those reasons, the Americans might look like they are occupying other nations
by stationing soldiers on their territories. The soldiers are there, the
Americans will say, to contain the nations they surround for the purpose of
keeping them from expanding. When the Americans don’t do that, they otherwise
sound like missionaries proselytizing their form of government to those who
live differently from them. In any case, like the aging lion, America is
beginning to show its age, and apparently can no longer carry on as it has
since it came out the war triumphant and glorious, having defeated the would-be
Nazi and Japanese empires in Europe and the Far East.
Great,
you say, nature is taking its course throughout the world, and everything
should end well. Yes, is the answer to this observation, this should be the
case. But in our excitement, we’re neglecting to look at something important.
It is that the form of government which America is proselytizing to others, is
getting in the way of the natural course developing naturally in America itself.
You can see it in two articles that were published recently.
One
article came under the title: “To deter Russia, America must support Poland,”
and the subtitle: “Biden has an opportunity to draw Poland closer with arms
sales.” It was written by Robert C. O’Brien, and published on July 7, 2021 in
the Washington Times. The other article came under the title: “America’s
defense of Taiwan key to containment of Chinese communist regime,” it was
written by Michael McKenna, and published also on July 7, 2021 in The
Washington Times.
It
is clear from the two titles that the authors forgot why the veto power was
given to the five countries that formed the team which defeated Nazi Germany
and Imperial Japan during World War II. It was to make sure that if one power
objected to the Security Council taking a decision that harmed its interests,
the decision was annulled by the veto to avoid a potential clash between the
big powers, a move that would have led to another world war. Thus, the primary
interest of those who fought the wars, and knew what devastation and misery
looked like, created an instrument that allowed them to avoid repeating the
mistakes of a previous era.
Unfortunately,
this is what many “young lions” in America fail to understand. They are blind
to two realities. These are that, relatively speaking, America is no longer the
power that used to be, and can no longer fulfill the role of world policeman. Also,
the young lions mistakenly believe that war is like playing a video game where
people may die but nobody feels pain. They simply cannot imagine that death,
destruction, homelessness, hunger and refugees result from wars.
The
following is a condensed version of what Robert O’Brien sees and fails to see:
“President
Biden’s Geneva meeting with Russian President Putin appears to have had little
impact on Russia’s behavior. Moscow’s crosshairs have former Warsaw Pact states
such as Poland in its sights. Poland has been an exemplary ally of the US. The
relationship between Warsaw and Washington has been strengthened over the past
by mutual concern over Moscow’s invasion of Georgia and the annexation of
Crimea. Further bolstering our ties with Poland is imperative. The Biden
Administration has an opportunity now to draw Poland even closer to the US
through the foreign military sales (FMS) of key platforms. Washington must be
bold in supporting Warsaw and that message is best sent by upgrading Poland’s
defenses”.
Robert
O’Brien is here demonstrating that the only language he believes works in
international discourse, is that of military deployment and the trading in
weapons: Surround Russia with military might, and reward Poland by selling it
weapons.
The
following is a condensed version of what Michael Mckenna sees and fails to see:
The Communist Chinese insist
that Taiwan is part of China. The Taiwanese insist they are an
independent nation. Taiwan is the key to the Pacific region. A Chinese
assault on the island would compel everyone to take sides and action, or to
surrender the Pacific to the Chinese. If we are unable to defend Taiwan,
it is unlikely that we will be able to defend Japan. President Jinping has made
it clear that reunification is one of his top priorities. The loss
of Taiwan would send the Philippines and Indonesia toward the Chinese
orbit. Is Team Biden ready for such a thing? It seems unlikely. The US’s most
important alliance now is the Quad, a confederation of India, the US, Australia
and Japan. We have been playing the wrong game with China for too
long. Let’s hope that our leaders can come to understand that strength, and
clear understanding about our intentions are essential. With respect to
Beijing, that starts with resolve to defend Taiwan”.
Michael
McKenna is here demonstrating that he has not given the slightest thought to
the possibility that responding to China’s moves tit-for-tat could lead to a
world war in which it will not matter to humanity whether Taiwan remained
independent or was absorbed by the mainland.
McKenna asked the question: Is Team Biden ready for such a thing? Indeed, is Michael Mckenna ready to live in a planet incinerated by a nuclear holocaust?