No nation, no matter how rich, is an island, and no country, no matter how strong, is a fortress. We live in increasingly interconnected interdependent world. We cannot afford to be indifferent to each other’s concerns and suffering or unengaged in each other’s problems and dilemmas. Every conflict and every disaster now has global implications. The sooner we understand that the better for us all. Continue reading “Citizens of Earth”
This is the 21st century and yet, somehow, we still need to remind ourselves that genocide is wrong, that it is not an acceptable tool to achieve a certain geopolitical end, real or perceived, and that no country or government is entitled to engage in it without consequences and while shielding itself using terms like “domestic affairs” and “national sovereignty.” It’s disgusting that we still need to debate whether intervention meant to prevent or stop genocide is “wise.”
Iran
Iran will never give up its nuclear program. To them, having nuclear capabilities and a few warheads and missiles on the side is meant tom inoculate them against foreign dabbling. Iranian officials believe that, unlike Saudi Arabia whose breakup will come largely due to mismanagement on part of the ruling establishment, the only way the Iranian establishment they could face serious domestic troubles will come as a result of clandestine activities supported by Western governments. Having nuclear weapons will prevent that possibility, so they think, even as American drones and intelligence operations are busy destabilizing Pakistan, which has long been a nuclear power.
Continue reading “Random Observations on Some Recent Developments”
I don’t know how many would-be or wannabe Einsteins and Mozarts died in Syria as a result of the war Assad unleashed, but I do know that there were surely many carpenters, grocers, farmers, bakers, tailors, soldiers, doctors and engineers, and that each and every one of them, by virtue of their humanity alone, was entitled to live in dignity. That knowledge suffices for me to want an end to this war, an end that brings with it the possibility of a dignified existence, not reward the killers.
The Ammar Abdulhamid Archive 