This is what we should all do. It is why History remains an important subject. History has a habit of repeating itself and to refuse to engage and learn from it means we risk becoming inattentive to the dangers that face us.
Of course learning from history is a double edged sword. On the one hand, Oliver Cromwell learned his strategy of wholesale slaughter from Julius Caesar. Hence one of the many reasons we are not popular with the Irish.
On the other, Hitler failed to heed the warning of Napoleon’s attempt to fight a war on two fronts. By alienating his mate Stalin and losing his pal Mussolini, his hemmed in army could not sustain it’s fight on several long and challenging fronts, despite the power of his war machine.
I fear I am becoming boring on the subject of my current disquiet at the state of the world. However said disquiet is reflected by many friends and acquaintances as we wonder what on earth is going to happen next. With DT going for the Hollywood version of American might and power with a short sharp shock move in Venezuela, one feels that he is ignoring lessons of the very recent past.
Venezuela may indeed have a brief South American Spring with the fall of Maduro, but these things tend not to last as the corrupt and brutal shuffle in to fill the void and the laws of unintended consequences take hold. Said corrupt and brutal persons are going to be no more fond of sharing their oil or stopping the wealth generated by the drug trade than their predecessor.
When you stick your nose into other countries you must do it with the knowledge that you must be in it for the long haul. You need the support of the people to avoid protracted insurgence because they have inside knowledge which you will need for success. And you need the support of your own people who need to accept the lives that will be lost for the greater good.
The public pressure to avoid American deaths on foreign soil during the Afghan conflict, combined with the shambolic withdrawal in which people who had put their lives on the line combatting Islamic fundamentalism were sacrificed in an ill-judged and badly thought out exodus is something the world will not forget easily.
I hate to say it but China is doing a much better job of economic imperialism with its activities in Africa. Flooding the continent with dodgy loans and hoards of workers is giving them untold power to pursue their interests in this vast land, rich with precious minerals.
The response of the West seems to involve withdrawing all our soft power (for which read food, health and education programs), bellyaching when people seek refuge from war torn and famine stricken regions, and sulking that takes our word for it.
Minnie’s Musings 