Re: [Futurework] Pax Democratica - a proposal

[G. Stewart]

Ed, you wrote:   >However, we may be into a very different ball game in the future, a perpetual, long-term war between established powers and supranational networks of organizations that purport to represent the aggrieved and oppressed and use terror to make their case.  If anything could drive the poles I've postulated into common cause, that might.   Yes, terrorism could. I keep expecting too that environmental degradation, of the sort that William Ward wrote about, might do so, but the separate incidents don't seem to add up to having a sufficiently pervasive effect. I watched again the other night the old classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still. Half an hour without electricity was deemed enough to catch attention worldwide!         Gail Stewart [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: Ed Weick To: G. Stewart ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2003 6:53 PM Subject: Re: [Futurework] Pax Democratica - a proposal I don't think they could be international organizations unless you consider the EU to be an "international organization", and it may still have a long way to go.  I don't personally see large and powerful (or potentially powerful (e.g. Russia)) countries being willing to give anything up unless it is to their advantage to do so.  However, we may be into a very different ball game in the future, a perpetual, long-term war between established powers and supranational networks of organizations that purport to represent the aggrieved and oppressed and use terror to make their case.  If anything could drive the poles I've postulated into common cause, that might. Ed Weick   ----- Original Message ----- From: G. Stewart To: Ed Weick ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2003 4:45 PM Subject: Re: [Futurework] Pax Democratica - a proposal Ed,   Interesting. A lot of horsetrading I think is a useful idea. I agree with the notion of several centres of power but think it important that they not be mutually exclusive, like nations. That is why I was thinking of a Commons that included both the US and many of the countries in the UN. The three would then be overlapping, and overlapping with the Commonwealth, the European Union, etc. A multiplex or web, rather than a detente. So I don't think we are far apart but I seem to be making my "edges" fuzzier than yours! What do you think? Could the four or five "poles" be international organizations rather than countries?    We have so much to learn about how to avoid war!   <snip>