Robert Kaplan of STRAFOR has an interesting piece, The World is Marching Toward Anarchy. As he points out, liberal forces throughout the
world oppose hierarchy, hegemony, and
imperial power because they foster inequality.
Yet a study of history shows that the world is most peaceful precisely
when some imperial power is keeping the peace.
And it is most troubled and unsafe when there is no “big dog” enforcing order.
I’m reminded that Las Vegas, when the mob ruled it, had
almost no petty crime. It was bad for
business, so petty criminals who disturbed the customers of the mob’s
profitable gambling business tended to get found dead out in the desert. Similarly, when Rome ruled the Western world,
things were pretty peaceful within the empire. It was said a woman alone could
travel the breadth of the empire and not be molested. Much the same can be said about the British
Empire when it ruled the Western world.
So while liberal forces may wish for the abolition of powerful
empires like the US empire in the name of “more equality”, they should be careful
what they wish for. A world without a “top dog” to keep order is likely to be a
world in anarchy. And indeed, Kaplan
argues we are headed for just such a world. The growing chaos in Afghanistan and Iraq, as the US withdraws its forces, may be a harbinger of things to come elsewhere if and as US power wanes in the world..
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