THE FALL of the Berlin Wall and of the Communist Soviet megalith have proven to be a major turning point in modern history, producing a uni-polar world with one superpower - a sort of 'one-order' world. Having only one superpower is not bad in itself. If the nation with overwhelming military and economic power in the world is also a champion of justice and a good example of international co-operation and collaboration - a good team player a 'big brother' who guards the little brothers from the threats of bullies, then you might not like the methods but you couldn't quarrel with the result. But if the one superpower is the bully, using its military might to take advantage of the weak, and its economic might to gain more wealth while impoverishing others, then you have a world heading for serious global conflict.
In the bad old days of the Cold War, the world was divided into two strong blocs calling themselves the 'first world' and the 'second world', with the 'third world' as pawns in a grand global chess game. Each bloc was a foil for the other, and neither dared do anything that might push the other over the brink. The picture of two armed camps pointing at each other hundreds of nuclear and ballistic missiles sufficient to destroy the whole planet several times over was frightening, but even without liking the Soviet system, at least you knew there was a balance of forces, a stable if tense peace.
TWIN TOWERS
Now with nothing to keep them in check, the United States of America has continued to use its power not just to further its own interests, but to re-make the world especially the Muslim Middle East and the Caribbean in its own image and likeness. It was just a matter of time before action would lead to reaction.
The events of 9-11 were the first salvo in what may yet become World War III. I don't support violence because it doesn't really solve anything; it only begets more violence, as we have seen. The sight of the crumbling twin towers of the World Trade Centre and the hole in the wall of the Pentagon were like simultaneous blows to the solar plexus and to that delicate area of a man's anatomy below his belt. The USA has come up fighting, and has invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, and it appears that more invasions are to come.
"Why do they hate us so?" is the plaintive cry from the north. "They must be jealous of our great wealth and prosperity". The persons who so carefully organised the 9-11 terrorist acts were not short of wealth, but they were angry with the role the US plays in the Arab and Muslim world, particularly in denying the Palestinians a homeland. Since 9-11 the US has stepped up its pro-Palestinian rhetoric, but it continues to assist its favourite to ignore several UN resolutions; and the killings in Palestine continue.
We must be careful in our analysis. Were the events of 9-11 the cause of the US invasion of Iraq, or just the excuse? Certainly there is no evidence that Saddam Hussein had anything to do with 9-11, and no evidence can be found that he possessed any weapons that could seriously threaten anyone outside his country. Pre-9-11 documents have come to light in the USA which strategies a particular realignment of power in the Middle East which would serve the business interests of certain US corporations. There must be only 'one-order' in the brave new world!
SOVEREIGN
In the recent past the US has not needed much of an excuse to invade and even occupy other sovereign countries, and it has been adept at seeking support from umbrella groups such as the UN, the OAS and NATO to cloak its adventures. The USA invaded Panama killing thousands of Panamanians to catch and put on trial the President, Manuel Noreiga, for drug trafficking. And one could name other interventions in Somalia, Lebanon, Kosovo and Serbia.
Here in the Caribbean they invaded Haiti twice and the Dominican Republic and Grenada once. Remember the undeclared war in Viet Nam (which they eventually lost)? But more substantial has been the interference by the CIA in the internal affairs of countries too numerous to mention (including Jamaica) up to the point of supporting rebel troops and guerilla movements to oppose even democratically elected governments.
And so events in Haiti last week do not come as a surprise - neither the abduction of the Head of State, nor the total disrespect and disregard shown to CARICOM and Jamaica. And watch events in Venezuela and Cuba. Submit to the one-order, or else! Jamaica will not escape. The world is heading in a direction which few will like.
The way things look now only the European Union can lead the challenge the hegemony of the USA. We here in Jamaica need to choose our alignments carefully.
In Palmer's Cross, Clarendon, we have between one and three power cuts each day for the last week.
Peter Espeut is a sociologist and is executive director of an environment and development NGO.
