At 02/07/02 10:02 -0400, Proyect wrote: >Burford: > >What is so significant about this split over immunity of "allied" > >occupation forces in Bosnia from potential prosecution by the new > >International Criminal Court, which the US refuses to recognise, is that > >this is a split in the position of bodies of armed men in relation to > >international law. > >There is nothing particularly new about this. The European powers tend to >be less barbaric than the USA. During Reagan's war against Nicaragua, they >endorsed the verdict of the World Court that the US broke international law >when it mined the harbors of Managua. They also tended to be critical of >the war in Vietnam. > >However, this has little to do with "armed men in relation to international >law". The USA and Europe play hard cop and soft cop respectively to the 3rd >world. Take Nicaragua for example. While the USA organized killings and >economic blockade to make the FSLN "cry uncle", the Europeans were putting >pressure on them to abandon their socialist perspectives.
I agree with the broad description of hard cop and soft cop. These are two types of imperialist policies that relate to the different political and economic strengths of Europe and the USA. But Blair can no longer always bridge that contradiction. And I assert there is indeed something new in world history and even more important, about this. Global juridical forms are being created in front of our eyes. These are important components of a future world state in creation. The USA and Europe are in contention about which model is to prevail. The result will be determined by the resultant of forces. My prediction is that the European model will prevail over the next decade at the latest. It will do so by small consensual advances. The US-Bush first-strike model will magnify the effect of the USA's overwhelming military advantage but it will get bogged down in complaints about bombing weddings. Its imperialist rivals do not have to confront it directly in order to defeat it. They can gossip and outmanoeuvre. It is important we grasp what is new in this: in the course of this contradiction, indeed dialectically, a world state is being created. (in the interests of course, of imperialism) Chris Burford London
