Since i was little i have lived with the notion that 'the big one' was on it's way. In some undefined manner, a massive, civilization ending war was inevitable. My house having a bomb shelter was probably contributory. As a kid and a young adult I managed to absorb enough apocalyptic movies, books and punditry (they called it news back then) to convince me that it was only a matter of time. The source of this conflict varied slightly but mostly it involved the Middle East.
The years have passed, the wall came down and, though it might sound funny given the last decade or so`s hostilities, the middle east has become pretty unlikely as a source of world conflict. Or at least it HAD. I have to wonder if the new non-war in Libya is going to push us back into troubled times in a big way. With the new declaration that U.S. ground troops may be used to support the rebels ( meaning fight the war for them) it has to be apparent to all observers that the limits to Western involvement in that civil war are along the lines of: it depends on what is needed to get the job done. I am no big fan of Qaddafi, but as an arab dictator he is hardly alone. Other dictators in the area must see, as i do, that they too are in danger of being bombed and invaded should the opportunity arise. I have to wonder what would do in their place. Obtaining a nuke or two would work (Iran, anybody?) No? Well then how about obtaining a big brother who already has one? It worked for Egypt, back in the day when after a failed attempt to eradicate Israel, Cairo was in danger of being overrun. That time only the presence of Russian (sorry soviet) personnel in the line of fire prevented Israel from kicking Egyptian ass all the way up the Nile. Well, that and a threat of WW III from the Russians to the U.S., properly relayed to Israel by the U.S. in the form of a cease and desist order. Option two sounds good two me.
If I were, say the dictator of, say Saudi Arabia, and I was a little worried about current events in Egypt, Yemen and most disturbingly Libya, I might want to explore the idea of more formal ties to a world power to protect my interests. One which did not participate in the Libyan invasion. One which is unlikely to jump into my living room in the interests of establishing democracy and freedom and the pursuit of happiness`. One which has not, in the last 20 years, participated or initiated 4 wars in and around the middle east. In other words, one which isn't the USA.
Coincidentally, Saudi Arabia has declared an interest in exploring relations with the Russians or the Chinese. Any such arrangement would undoubtedly come at the expense of current one with the U.S. I doubt such an deal would do much to increase stability in the region. I also doubt that it would do much to deter arab anti Israel sentiments. It would , in my view increase the likelihood of a expanded war should war with Israel break out.
I wonder whether there are any bomb shelter contractors in town?
So does this mean its time to make up a list of all that we'd need to survive a nuclear winter? Along with all those 70's apocalyptic movies, there was definately a movement towards self-sufficiency, living off the land and off the grid, etc. I think that there were many failed hippy colonies during those days. How would we survive now, with a disruption of all the services we have come to rely on? Besides the obvious things like food, gas, electricity, now we have all our technology: our blackberries, cell phones, internet, computer games, blogs. Somehow, a nuclear winter now would have a much greater impact because we are that much further away from living off the land and will find a much greater disruption in our lives.
ReplyDeleteBut hey! its not going to happen.