Thinking back to 8 years ago, I remeber the impact that 09/11 had on each of us. The experience was intensely personal, yet it was something we shared. I found this in a book or article or some published work... that I can now not remember. I was cleaning out my email and found it and after the anniversary yesterday, it brought back all those intense feelings. Food for thought....
"… real security-security that is sustainable and genuine- must focus on the needs of human beings, not just nations.. True security is not only a matter of protecting borders from military aggression, or achieving technological or economic dominance, but of providing a stable, safe and healthy environment for all citizens- women, men and children- of all races and creeds to participate fully in economic, cultural and political life. People must work together because no on- even the most wealthy and powerful country in the world- will enjoy true security if others in our interdependent world suffer injustice and deprivation. Given the global rise of extremism on all sides in recent years, it is very easy to turn inward, recoil from risk, and avoid reaching out to others. For all of our sakes, we can no longer afford to allow ourselves to be imprisoned by our fears and difference. "
1 comment:
you make a good point here...I just read an article which contained the following sentiments about America being on the cusp of isolationism and after yesterdays speeches at the United Nations it would seem that the rest of the world wants us to withdraw into our shell and get out of Global Matters.
"Since the 1930s, isolationism has rarely had a real chance at achieving the kind of ideological dominance it once had in America. The second world war and the cold war – with the fascist and communist threats always in the front of American minds – kept America enmeshed with the wider world. The first Gulf war seemed to presage a new form of engagement – multilateral, order-oriented, pax Americana.
The Bill Clinton years can be seen in retrospect as a kind of neutral zone – with much-reduced military spending, a policy of globalisation and free trade, but with sporadic intervention in various trouble spots: Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo. Then Bush II – and the launching of the New American Century, galvanised by 9/11.
At first blush, 9/11 seemed to mean the end of even the dream of leaving the rest of the world behind. After all, terror had now reached American soil. War had been declared. What choice did Americans have but to fight back?
But the gruelling, soul-sapping war in Iraq has unsettled that idea considerably. Many Americans look at trying to coax democracy or even stability in the Arab world and conclude that it’s a mug’s game. If this is interventionism, could isolationism be much worse? The lead-up to the war disabused Americans of any notion that they could easily corral global support for their policing the planet. The follow-through has convinced them they cannot do it by themselves either. You can see why opting out has begun to appeal.
The Bush-Cheney argument that we have to fight the terrorists in Iraq or we will have to fight them in Kansas has not persuaded many. And rightly so. The core truth of Islamist terror, as 9/11 proved, is that it’s not that hard for very few people to do a lot of damage. The years-long occupation of a Muslim country, moreover, seems to have made the terror threat worse, not better.
Under those circumstances, why not make a tactical retreat? Almost 65% of Americans say the war was not worth the cost. As the Iraqi parliament prepares to go on vacation, while the sons and daughters of Americans face another hellish August policing a sectarian civil war, the potential for a populist isolationist revival seems real enough."
Thus maybe all we can do is reach out to the people around us, to our families here or there and to those neighbors that need just a litle bit more. We may not be able to stop the wall of isolationism from coming up around the borders of the nation but we can keep isolationism from taking over our part of the nation.
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