Global Anarchy: Who is to Blame and Who should fix things?

By V. Antwi-Danso
In February 1994, a lengthy cover story in The Atlantic Monthly, "The Coming Anarchy:
How carcity, Crime, !ver"o"ulation, Tribalism, an# $isease are %a"i#ly $estroying the
ocial Fabric o& !ur 'lanet",
1
%obert $( )a"lan argue# that the combination o& resource
#e"letion *li+e water,, #emogra"hic youth bulges an# the "roli&eration o& shanty towns
throughout the #evelo"ing worl# woul# en&lame ethnic an# sectarian #ivi#es, creating the
con#itions &or #omestic "olitical brea+#own an# the trans&ormation o& war into increasingly
irregular &orms, ma+ing it o&ten in#istinguishable &rom terrorism( He also em"hasi-e# the
erosion o& national bor#ers an# the rise o& the environment as the "rinci"al security issues o&
the .1st century( !& great concern was his "re#iction on the colla"se o& certain A&rican states
in the late 199/s an# the rise o& "olitical Islam in Tur+ey an# other "laces, all o& which came
to "ass( Islam, he wrote, 0was a religion i#eally suite# &or the ba#ly urbani-e# "oor who were
willing to fight(
.
An# this too has come to "ass as Islamic &un#amentalism has become the
real bogey &or the whole worl#, es"ecially since the Al 1ae#a attac+s on the 2nite# tates o&
America, e"tember 11, .//1( In#ee#, in 1993 amuel Huntington also ha# "re#icte# a
0Clash o& Civili-ations4,
5
where the en# o& the Col# 6ar an# the #emise o& communism
woul# turn the 7ast86est con&rontation into a #ouble clash: a 9orth8outh clash *the "oor
outh versus the rich 9orth, an# the Islamic socio8"olitical culture against the :u#eo8
Christian 6estern culture( In both instances, the trigger woul# be the &alse believe in the 07n#
o& History4 a#vocate# by Francis Fu+uyama( Following the #emise o& communism an# the
en# o& the Col# 6ar, Fu+uyama ha# written: ;6hat we may be witnessing is not only the en#
o& the Col# 6ar, or the "assing o& a "articular "erio# o& "ost8war history, but the en# o&
history as such: that is, the en# "oint o& man+in#4s i#eological evolution and the
universalization of Western liberal democracy as the &inal &orm o& human government(<
4
It is
this &alse belie& that has engen#ere# a silly crusa#e = the universali-ation o& 6estern liberal
#emocracy = an# le# enthusiastically by the 6est, es"ecially the 2( 9ot even the uninitiate#
in the ru#iments o& "hiloso"hy woul# &ail to ac+nowle#ge the &act that the universali-ation o&
any socio8"olitical norm>ethic woul# stan# con#emne# by socio8historical an# cultural
relativities( An# so the 6est4s attem"t to universali-e the "rinci"les o& #emocracy as 0the &inal
&orm o& human government4,
?
in the ho"e that "eace an# stability woul# "revail in the worl#,
has been shown to be in mar+e# o&&ensive contrast with other civili-ations, notably the
Islamic culture an# way o& li&e( $emocracy is a "rocess, not an event an# as such cannot be
e@"orte# in coo+e# &orm( It is evolutionary an# sel&=correcting, ta+ing into account socio8
historical, cultural, an# economic realities(
The current global anarchy where there is un"rece#ente# rise in the activities o& sub8national
grou"s an# where intra8state stri&e has claime# the lives o& millions o& innocent "eo"le has
much to #o with this insi"i# #esire to universali-e 6estern systems o& governance( In#ee#,
1
See the Atlantic Monthly, February 1994
2
Ibid.
3
Huntington, Samuel, (199!, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World
Order, "e# $or%& Simon ' Schu(ter.
4
Fu%uyama, Franci(, )he *nd o+ Hi(tory, The National Interest, Summer 19-9. ..1-
/
ibid
1
the so8calle# Aush $octrine inclu#e# a #esire to ensure #emocracy in the Bi##le 7ast
through IraC( The invasion o& IraC "rogresse# &rom a search &or wea"ons o& mass #estruction
*6B$, to regime change( ince the mur#er o& a##am Hussein, IraC has har#ly ince"te# a
stable government( %ather, the hiite8unni #ivi#e, a constant variable in Bi##le 7ast
instability, has e@acerbate#( A grou" calling itsel& the Islamic tate o& IraC an# the Devant
*IID, is virtually in control o& IraC an# threatening to create an Islamic state stretching &rom
IraC to Debanon( The so8calle# Arab "ring was toute# by the 6estern Be#ia as a
s"ringboar# to usher in #emocracy in the Arab worl#( The chaos, "rom"te# by #isgruntle#
elements *labelle# then as 0"ro8#emocracy &orces4,, was the sign that #emocracy was
+noc+ing at the #oors in the Bi##le 7ast an# 9orth A&rica( The 6est, le# by the 2, o"enly
su""orte# the rebels( Beetings were hel# in Don#on, where the 2 an# her allies "romise#
assistance, inclu#ing wea"ons an# intelligence( In#ee#, with Dibya an# yrian rebels, 2
ecretary o& state, :ohn )erry, o"enly "romise# monetary assistance *E1//mln to the latter, in
the ho"e that the Assa# regime woul# &all within #ays an# 0#emocracy woul# #ro" &rom
heaven to yrians,( The French, lea#ing a 9AT! attac+ on Dibya, eCually assiste# with
wea"ons #elivery( They eCually #ro""e# wea"ons in Tur+ey &or yrian rebels( The story was
same in A&ghanistan( 6e are all witnesses to the continue# anarchy in these "laces( The irony
is that the so8calle# rebels, a&ter gaining some groun#s, turn their bac+s on 6estern
#emocracy, in most instances, showing o"en hatre# &or the 2( The &irst casualty in a "ost8
1a##a&i 0&ree4 Dibya was an American 7nvoy, savagely +ille# by anti81a##a&i elements( The
.//5 invasion o& IraC was "re#icate# on the assum"tion that the hiites, liberate# &rom
a##am Hussein, woul# welcome the 2nite# tates an# allow it to resha"e IraC as it #esire#
*"art o& the logic o& the 0Aush $octrine4,( It was Cuic+ly #iscovere#, however, that the IraCi
hiites, along with their Iranian allies, ha# very #i&&erent "lans( The 2(( invasion ultimately
&aile# to create a coherent government in IraC an# hel"e# create the current circumstance(
Come to thin+ o& it that the very :ohn )erry, who "romise# assistance to Dibyan an# yrian
rebels is accusing %ussia o& assisting 2+rainian rebels, labelling it as immoral( 6as it
immoral to have su""orte# other rebels elsewhereF 6as it "ro"er to have su""orte# the
bloo#y u"rising that to""le#
3
the Guschen+o government in 2+raine by mostly 6estern
"owersF !& course, countries must have a moral &oun#ation &or their "olicy an# such
&oun#ation must be #iscerning an# "ivote# on rational "ro"s(
The story is same everywhere( The 6est &ans an# &un#s insurgencies, in the ho"e o& gaining
converts to come un#er the 6estern liberal umbrella( o in 2+raine, the 0!range %evolution4
was heavily heral#e#( In other "ost8oviet re"ublics, the same scenario was "laye#( It is this
+in# o& inter&erence that creates con#itions &or anarchy an# chaos( Inci#entally, 6estern
"ro"agan#a is so huge an# lou# that the resistance to the im"osition o& 6estern values is
#escribe# in monstrous garbs( uch is the "icture o& 'utin, o& a##am, o& 1a##a&i, Bugabe,
Chave- an# any others, "erceive# to be 0in the way o& #emocracy4( anctions are threatene#
or im"ose#H coalitions are &orme# against such countries an#>or their lea#ershi"sH global
multi8lateral institutions *es"ecially the 29, IBF an#, the 6orl# Aan+, are stam"e#e# to
threaten such countries an# their lea#ers etc(
amuel Huntington4s "re#ictions are coming true( The im"osition o& liberal 6estern values
on countries, where they succee#, has cause# a shrin+ing o& "olicy s"ace &or governments(
7conomic governance is mortgage# into the han#s o& international institutions, notably the

Indeed, the go0ernment o+ $u(chen%o #a( bundled out o+ o1ce by an arrangement

(.on(ored by 2ermany, 3oland, and that undermined the 4%rainian con(titution and (et
the (tage +or more in(tability
2
IBF an# the 6orl# Aan+, whose "olicies have e@acerbate# "overty an# entrenche# mis8
governance( The 9orth =outh clash is there&ore real( Beanwhile, the rise in Islamic
&un#amentalism re"resents a resentment o& im"osition o& 6estern liberalism( That really is
the Clash o& Civilisations an# 9!T 0the en# o& history and the universalization of Western
liberal democracy as the &inal &orm o& human government4( The biggest mani&estation o& this
clash is the rise in terrorist activities throughout the worl#(
The #emise o& the Col# 6ar has le&t the worl# in a systemic &lu@( The "re#ictability o& a
global system is no longer &easible( The war on terror can only be won, i& the worl# moves
away &rom the erroneous belie& in the 07n# o& History4 theory an# allows #emocracy to
evolve( In that sense, institutions o& global governance, es"ecially the 2nite# 9ations, shoul#
assert their autonomy an# assist countries &in# an o"timal way o& ensuring inclusive,
"artici"atory, &orms o& governance, brewe# in national socio8historical an# cultural conte@ts(
It must be note# that the chaos an# anarchy that has engul&e# the worl# are gra#ually causing
a return to the Col# 6arH alliances are being &orme#, the arms race is on, an# the .1
st
Century
cannot be sai# to assure us o& being more "eace&ul than the ./
th
, sai# to be the most chaotic o&
all centuries(
3
4
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