Bush and Peter Sellers
Three things today.
First, go to economist.com and just look at the cover. It is precious.
Second, the cover story in this weeks economist is very important. Ever since the end of the Cold War between Russia and the U.S. the world has been relatively relaxed about Nuclear proliferation. It shouldn't be. Although the world has been quite peaceful since the end of World War II (the last time a nuclear bomb has been used against humans), more nuclear bombs is not always a good thing.
Right now we have a balance of power in terms of nuclear bombs. There are treaties and controls that regulate its use for peaceful purposes and wartime uses. When parties (like Bush and the U.S.) begin to violate these controls, then we will return to a pre-Cold War state of chaos.
In a perfect world of responsible government, everyone would be able to have nuclear weapons. Without getting into it (post a comment if you want to) nuclear weapons and a proper execution of Mutually Assured Destruction will prevent major conflict and put more of an emphasis on diplomacy. Bush's violation of our nuclear treaties is not a move to that end, it is a blatent violation of international treaties and should not be approved by congress.
Third, in general this will be a business day blog. I will not post on weekends and I will not post on most holidays. If I am not going to post on any other days, I will let you know.
posted by PCMB @ 9:03 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
First, I applaud any reference to Kubrick's masterpiece, still a hallmark of Cold War fatalist thinking.
Second, Bush is thinking long term in his attempt to bring India into the nuclear power club. Borrowing from Machiavelli's playbook, Bush is keeping his enemies closer than his friends. As the world's largest democracy, and quickly gaining in economic might, too, India is poised to flex its muscle as power broker in Asia.
Bush understands, perhaps better than anyone will give him credit for, that, by design, the rules of any nuclear non-proliferation treaty cannot be rigid. His overture to India is Real Politik at its best, acknowledging the changing landscape of a maturing Asia. Faced with the reality of failed isolationist policies, countries such as India and China are learning that in order to participate in global politics and secure their own prosperity, they need to arm themselves with the only toys 1st world nations recognize, namely, nuclear technology.
U.S. attempts to restrain or forbid this activity smack of, at best, paternalism, at worst, Imperialsim. Bush is to be commended for understanding this and for attempting to bring into the fold countries that can responsibly use the technology.
It is true, but a shame, that the only thing the international community recognizes as power is the nuclear weapon. However, Bush is using a double standard that is going to cause more harm than good. You cannot cooperate with India, but expect North Korea and Iran to obey the NP treaty. If you say we must be flexible with India, then North Korea and Iran will throw that back in our face.
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