11.26.2008

Pirates & Terror

Aside from mentioning how horrified I am by the attacks on Mumbai (my aunt evidently works in the Taj Mahal Hotel...but this took place at night so it was "only" a problem for people like the dignitaries going to the EU...), I'm starting to wonder if this is the beginning of a trend.

The world is in an unstable, confused place right now.  For a while in the 90s, multilateral organizations like the UN and NATO were able to somewhat fill the void left by the collapse of the U.S.S.R.  But eight years ago, Bush proved that the U.S. does not need help from the rest of the world to start a war.  The interference in the Middle East has surely alarmed many freedom fi--oh, sorry, terrorists since they're not on our side--into taking action where they may have been content with planning.  And the situation in Africa has been dreadful for a while now: I bet most of those pirates would have legitimate professions if they could.  (They aren't raping and pillaging, they're systematically robbing countries with money.)

Attacking Mumbai makes a lot of sense right now, too: apart from the extremist Muslim retaliation (I really wonder if partitioning India was the worst thing to do--wouldn't be a surprise, considering how "successful" interference from the West generally is), Mumbai is also the hub of trade for the increasingly expanding India.  And since the liberal media have open access, it's much easier to promote their message through shocking visuals than it would be in China.

I'd watch out for a continuation of international incidents as some sort of balance attempts to reassert itself--in particular any sort of incident affecting a place Americans are known to frequent (holy fucking shit, they are still talking about 2 dead Americans...because all other citizens are less equal somehow?).  And yes, maybe it's old-fashioned to look for a balance of power, but it's making sense.

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