9/11Good evening, My name is Alpar. I am a junior, majoring in economics and philosophy. I have come to be interested in these two disciplines not merely because one of my parents was educated as a philosopher and another as an economist, but also because having been born in the Soviet Union, I have witnessed with my very eyes all the effects of the fundamental political, economic, ideological and sociological changes that the end of the Cold War has brought about. I thought that given my background as the citizen of the country that is no more, the course on the history and theory of international relations could help me better understand the world and my place in it. The events of 9/11 were a personal tragedy for great many a family – this fact, I believe, nobody would gainsay. Yet, when the question “Should the world forget 9/11 or not?” is posed as a question of significance to international politics, it is more constructive to attempt to answer having put personal sentiments aside. There is a rationale for not forgetting the events of 9/11for American ideologists and, hence, these events are not being forgotten. In the Post Cold War world of unfolding Globalization, the ideology of which is that history has come to an end at the American model of liberal democracy and triumphant capitalism, the event of 9/11 has been a signal that not everyone is willing to concede as easily as the former Soviet bloc has. It has shown that not everyone wants to be “free”, not everyone approves of “the democracy”, even if these opponents cannot offer any alternative model instead. 9/11 has also shown that although ideology and financial levers continue to be crucial and efficient tools in the march of Globalization, traditional Hot War measures, such as tanks and rockets have never been abandoned and are “alive and kicking”. After the Gulf War and Kosovo, the Iraqi campaign has shown once more that even those who advocate for peaceful “liberal democracy” in words have never ceased to be realist in deeds. Interestingly enough, the contradiction between the proclaimed vision of the post-modernist globalized world, in which all identities merge and power disappears, and the fact that the Globalization has after all a very concrete form that it imposes as it expands (making it a new form of domination) was becoming apparent to many people in the world, including many Americans themselves. In this context, 9/11 has served indeed as a very timely justification for legitimizing police action in the name of defending Mankind from an "ultimate" threat. Posted by Alpar Amanzholov on September 18, 2007 12:23 AM | Permalink |
