Global Politics has changed dramatically over the past few centuries from Imperial rule to colonial rule to the semi-victory of liberalism. The freedom and federation of the United States of America (1775-1783)1, marked the beginning of the liberalist rule, free from Imperialist ties. Concurrently the birth of the Industrial Revolution (late 18th century)2 marked the birth of Globalisation, an economic state of affairs which ironically needs an imperial rule to oversee global transactions, global cooperation of the presently chaotic independent states, at the least. In light of the booming economy of the West, the Eastern states, governed by communist regimes, started breaking up, and with China eager to compete in the world markets, the biggest enemy, the communist ideology seems to have failed at a global level. This leaves the Islamic nation to be the biggest foe, based on religious morals, there is war. The global south, Africa and South America face similar problems of poverty and broken nations spread over the continent, some with residual anger from Imperial history, cause for an enemy within the rest. Then there is the possibility of the foe within the state, the conflict between classes (Marx, "Capital"). With the advances in the space and arms race of the cold war, there is motivations for peaceful collaborations for developments to space missions. The rest is not against the West, however it does face some danger.
Over the past half century, there has been a battle between the East and the West, but this was put to an end with the partial fall of Communism. With the dissolution of the the Soviet satellites and the Chinese open to free trade in recent years, the old enemies who formed most of the rest are now allies in a quest for liberalist values. "In 1989, after hundreds of thousands of East Germans had fled westward via Hungary, and Czechoslovakia, the East German regime lifted travel restrictions, the wall was dismantled ... In 1991, driven by nationalistic fervor in man of the republics, and a collapsing economy, the Soviet Union dissolved."3 The biggest enemy to the U.S.A was the communist regime of the U.S.S.R. With over 15 years of an open economy and over 30 years of dominance in space, the biggest part of the 'rest' against the West has diminished.
"In 1978 the Chinese leadership began moving the economy from a sluggish, inefficient Soviet style centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented system"4. In 2004, China stood as the second largest economy in the world after the U.S., the second biggest foe, the second largest threat to the U.S. capitalism, Chinas' communist regime. As rational thinkers, China is not likely to remain a threat to the U.S. capitalist liberal philosophy. Shared interests in defence, a booming economy due to foreign investment and vested interests in a star trek episode, another big part of the 'rest' is an ally of the Western ideals.
The Islamic 'nation', comprising of over 1 billion, without doubt is the major threat to the post colonial rule, the anarchy of independent states. The fact that the Islam nation citizens are mostly illiterate is a contributing factor to the current problem of terrorism. "Living with the daily ugliness of slum life, education castration and economic exploitation, some ghetto dwellers now and then strike out in spasms of violence and self-defeating riots"5. The misunderstandings that terrorists develop is due to a lack of maturity, a sign of neurosis. Moses preached 'Thou shalt not kill'6, Jesus preached 'love thy neighbour as thy love thy selves'7, Mohammed preached 'forgiveness against transgresses'8, while Buddha preached 'right thought, right action'9. There is a lot of confusions about religion and God and the misuse of the holy name is outrageous. Religion is a method of structuring a society into a law abiding productive nation state. The primary aim seems to have been misunderstood and lost in generations. Religious misunderstandings. Moral Wars. The Islamic Religion might also be construed as a major bloc of the 'rest' and is an undeniable threat.
"Newly independent countries typically go through a period of unrest following their acquisition of sovereignty, as they struggle to resolve long standing internal grievances and territorial disputes with their neighbouring enemies"10. Africa is a big bloc that form the 'rest'. The West have to deal with the fact that Africa is just coming out of slavery days and very recently liberated to independent political groups, with several military hostile takeovers. Africa is broken as a continent. There are no ties of unity. Living in a tribal existence, it is difficult to form bonds over such a large continent. There are also several languages in Africa, creating a communication barrier. With a lack of education here too, problems of unstable governments exist. "Underdevelopment ... is statistically significant predictor of wars, ... there is evidence of a relationship between violence and backwardness"11. As Africa is in economic and political turmoil, the failure of post-colonial Aboriginal rule, there is the risk of violence erupting, creating a foe for the West.
South America is the second large bloc that fits into the poor undeveloped South. It is a poor sub-continent that is suffering from illegitimate governance. Similar to the African situation, uneducated militants take over by terrorism. With a lack of rational thinkers within the state, the people cannot be governed effectively. The semi-continent, like the African continent is broken in terms of economic and political cooperation. Apart from a common language, there are no ties to the old world, Spain, and there is no progress to the spread of Western capitalistic ideals. South America is geographically part of the West, but is a major bloc of the rest, part of the poor South that could revolt.
The unparalleled advance in science in the past century has been the development of the space stations. People can live in space. The structures are in embryonic stage and are on the design boards with the U.S.A., Russia, Japan, Canada, Brazil and the EU working together on a project of gigantic proportions, the International Space Station12. With over 30 years of experience in orbiting satellites, the Russians bring great expertise to this joint effort, combined with their old adversary, the U.S.A, tensions of the cold war, the development of a nuclear war between the two seems unlikely. However, there is the problem that these advances have brought the problem of insecurity. Each of these satellites orbit the Earth and there is constant surveillance. Each satellite could be armed and nukes deployed from manned or unmanned stations. For this reason alone, the world federated government is essential, there is no room for tensions between the West and the Rest.
After considering all the foreign foes that Western states face, the harsh reality is that there is, beyond reasonable doubt, an internal enemy. Enemies to Western democratic and capitalistic views. Enemies with the state. Enemies large enough to create considerable disruption to the state. Citizens of the U.S.A. and the U.K. could possibly be held responsible for the terrorist attacks that initiated the war in the Middle East. Although the U.S. has the greatest economy in the present world, they cannot deny that there is civil unrest. From the assassinations of JFK, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, to the current negro deviant populations within the U.S., it might be fair to assume that there are some unresolved problems within the state of the West. On an individual level of analysis, the frustrations of living in poverty, result in aggression13. According to Marx, class conflict14 is the problem, which inevitably brings upon a revolution to end the capitalist ideological rule. As there is the probability that there are political dissidents within the state, the axis of conflict in the future is not as simple as the west against the rest.
There has been the view that the future of world politics is likely to be between the West and the rest. Western ideals of freedom, democracy and rights. Conflict between political ideology has been a problem of the past as Communism has proved to be a failure at a global level. Communist regimes have softened the restrictions to trade with foreign economies and have even allowed foreign investment. The Islamic nation that is spread over the world and the poverty of the global south are the only external foes that could cause conflict with the West. There is also the internal factor of conflict of classes within the state. As Western history is marked with gross inequalities such as slavery, a total breakdown of human rights, it might be difficult to woo the 'rest' into a government based on western philosophies, however progress cannot be stopped and the inevitable world federated government is a necessity for our progress. Although there is some resistance to the globalisation of Western political philosophy, the rest of the world is not against the West.
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/
2. http://education.yahoo.com
3. http://education.yahoo.com
4. http://education.yahoo.com
5. King, M. L., "Chaos or Community", Penguin Books, U.S.A. 1967
6. Exodus 20:13, "The Torah"
7. Matthew 22:39, "The Bible"
8. Surah 40:40, The Quran"
9. The Encyclopedia Britannica
10. Kegley, C. W., "World Politics", Thomson Wadsworth, U.S.A., 2008
11. Lemke, D., "Development and War", International Studies Review (quoted in Kegley, "World Politics")
12. http://education.yahoo.com
13. Brill, Translations of Sigmund Freud
14. Marx, K., "Capital"
Bibliography
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/
4. http://education.yahoo.com
5. King, M. L., "Chaos or Community", Penguin Books, U.S.A. 1967
6. "The Torah"
7. "The Bible"
8. The Quran"
9. The Encyclopedia Britannica
10. Kegley, C. W., "World Politics", Thomson Wadsworth, U.S.A., 2008
13. Brill, Translations of Sigmund Freud
14. Marx, K., "Capital"
