Good God, Y'all!

I’m devoting this issue to writing about our international relations. Let’s get the major question out of the way.

Why should you give a shit?

• The world is a small place. What happens somewhere else, if bad enough, can reach or impact us. We should know that by now with COVID, West Nile Virus, Chornobyl, the BP Oil Spill, Exxon Valdez, Nazism, unnecessary wars, and ongoing regional conflicts.

• Freedom is not free. There is a constant history of men who want more, and they will take it without a concerted effort to keep them in check.

• We all came from somewhere else. Most of our ancestors did not start where we stand today. Diversity is what makes us strong, not tribalism.

• The United States would not exist without assistance from others, politically and economically.

America is to be proud of its cosmopolitan existence. Every generation has some identity tied to other places. If anything good is to be said of war, no matter how misguided, it usually makes us more diverse. That’s a primary reason we find ourselves as the center of the moral universe. We represent the World by our very makeup. The stronger and freer we are, the more people want to come, but if we want to lower the temperature of immigration, the key is to assist other countries.

Heavy is the crown the country wears.

While our Founding Fathers, especially President Washington, warned about international entanglements, we have never been in isolation and never can be. Even our War for Independence could easily have gone in a different direction if not for the intervention of the French to assist the American rebels.

We know now that the Earth is a small place and what happens on one side of the globe can indeed impact the other. Today, we have several hotspots in the news, though the bulk of the media focuses on Israel and Ukraine. I’ve included a few stories here to make some comments on for your reflection.

I hate reading things like the post above on the recent Ukrainian retreat from the city of Avdiivka. I include it to better emphasize the misery of being on guard for days and nights, under constant bombing, under steady threat, while your mind is still on the purpose and the orders given and your friends are hurt, wounded, or dead, and then when word comes to pull back, you leave the “shelter” you’re in to figure out a way to safety under fire and in darkness.

War is truly hell.

The United States can make a real difference here. The Ukrainians are giving their all, so we can give something, too. The current request in the budget is approximately $60 billion worth of military aid, much of which will go to American manufacturers of weaponry and equipment, and as many watchers have pointed out, the request is “peanuts” for the damage it is doing to Putin, and for the solidarity it has bought with NATO and freedom-loving people everywhere. If you are hearing anything otherwise, any pushback against this funding, I would invite you to do a deeper dive into the sources you’re following as well as read up on the history of fighting against tyranny.

While the news and media pinball between conflicts, sometimes in a very slanted manner to persuade you the viewer, it is up to you to know the difference, to decide on whether it is a just war, and to assess whether a way out has been considered.

Understanding the concept of a just war is necessary because we have a history of doing things for no good reason or simply because we can. With our modern technology and weapons that can reach anywhere on Earth, we have reached the time where we can ill afford bluster and pomposity in places of leadership.

Organizations like The Quincy Institute exist to serve the public interest and bring balance to power. It is made up of very able and experienced people. They recently issued a paper on ending the war between Ukraine and Russia. It may not be what all of us in the West want to see, but it is a path forward and away from the many military blunders and needless deaths that have stalked history.

One thing to be clear about: we will never kill or defeat all of our enemies.

The concept that, if something is not working just use more force, has gotten us into trouble time and time again.

Diplomacy must always be of equal consideration. We overreacted after 9/11. We overreacted in Vietnam. The use of force should always be measured when it comes to a civilized society. Prevention is not only bigger armies or more police or even preemptive strikes. It is more services, more equality, more talking, and more education.

Speak softly and carry a big stick is what President Teddy Roosevelt said. Always start with talking to know the problem, know the source, and even to know your enemy.

Blessed are the peacemakers….

I have been surprised that we have not heard more from Ukraine’s neighbor in the current war. Many of the old Soviet bloc states had a burgeoning democratic effort before falling back to old ways. Russia had its moment during the time I was there with the Peace Corps, only to see it shredded by Putin and his well-placed enablers.

Belarus was able to institute democratic procedures but, much like Putin, a strongman used the system to get and stay in power, then systematically rolled back any real freedoms and kept the facade in place. This is a common occurrence across the world, and even with some of our friends. We are not immune to it happening in the United States.

This is a great story on the Belarus opposition leader, so you know there are elements of freedom at work in these places. It is a plea for real democracies not to give up and to keep the fight for freedom going.

I do not know what the future of Belarus holds. Much like Russia now, I don’t see change coming except for the Belarus and Russians themselves to do what must be done. American colonialists once decided enough was enough in our revolution. Hopefully, we will see freedom lovers in those countries consolidate and act. I hope we are helping in a myriad of ways, and I don’t want to know about it if we are. Loose lips sink ships.

(Special note: A quick shoutout to the women. It is the wives of the opposition who are now the faces of the democratic movements in Belarus and Russia. A case could be made that it might be time to give women more leadership roles around the World. We men have done our fair share of promoting promise and creating pain.)

There is always talk in the media about our role in the world and why it matters. Some political pundits claim we have too many problems at home and spend too much time policing the world.

I think we can walk and chew gum at the same time.

If you observe, you will see the numerous connective threads that unite the world. Many countries fear their neighbors and have nowhere to turn except for “keepers of the peace.” We Americans have both the privilege and the responsibility of representing freedom. It is not an easy mantle to hold or to keep, and to simply ignore it and pretend to be isolated is not living in reality.

Let’s take Pakistan from this article. In Pakistan, the country has gotten younger, and a good portion of the population wants to democratize more. Ironically, the US has gotten older, and at least a portion of the population wants a stronger central authority like Pakistan has now. Many will say we have no business being involved with any of this, yet we must.

Both Pakistan and India have nuclear bombs. While India is much more stable and still democratic, Pakistan is in the throes of religious zealotry. Diplomacy is the only card we have to keep things peaceful and hope that people of both nations throw off the yolk of hate and intolerance.

Don’t be deceived. It would be dangerous for us to sit on the sidelines and pretend there would be no negative outcomes for the rest of the world. In Pakistan, the military and its operatives have worked to keep the people under their thumb and to keep control of the public narrative (remember Malala?).

Just as with Navalny and Russia, just as in the United States, Pakistan is struggling with generational changes and authoritarian tendencies. This may be the moment in time when democracy blossoms or is suffocated.

Make sure you are on and supporting the right side of history.

This is one of the few reports I’ve read on these views. While I believe that Israel is no longer fighting a just war due to the number of innocent families and children killed, the members of Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, are still out there. Hamas is one of those organizations that used a lot of religious brainwashing and control of public services to build up and protect its memberships. The attack on Israel was not on military targets but on innocent civilians themselves. Their act was not justified any more than an Israel response that kills three Palestinian civilians along with every Hamas fighter.

There are many roots to this war, but a primary contributor is religious intolerance. All the more reason that spiritual belief systems of any kind need to remain free but private and out of the public realm of governance. Many innocent lives have been lost in the name of a belief.

One can only hope that Israelis and Palestinians on both sides internally push for change from the system of lies and intolerance that has fed this for decades. There are solutions to this, and other countries may need a more heavy-handed presence to move things in the right direction.

I want to include this lovely piece because it captures so much of what the American spirit is supposed to be. Political forces are at work to make the devil out of immigration, though we are all immigrants. Our current problem is not with immigration per se, it is with politics.

A bipartisan bill was recently offered to improve the system only to be stopped for election purposes. And the concept of a nation busting at the seams is false. While immigration has picked up and has probably exacerbated the real problem of economic inequality, demographics and time continue to balance things as one generation passes and another generation takes its place.

In this story, we have a retired older American who looks beyond any issue of differences and simply wants to be of service. This is an American ethos that doesn’t get the credit it deserves. People like “Mr. Gil” are the ones who keep things going when the rest of us get stuck in our shadows of shame and intolerance. The amount of good he spreads by simply being and doing is tremendous.

Mr. Gil is a great role model for all of us.

Ok, this is not specifically an international story, but I wanted to finish off on something a little less heavy. Gaming has taken over the world like nothing else and one would think that a world that plays together could learn to live together. I include this article so you can keep on top of current tech and innovation. Competition for your time and attention is going to continue to drive more immersive experiences, so whoever can come up with the best-smelling system like this example, will be making a ton of green. This will one day be a normal part of your gaming environment, movie-going experience, your car, and so on.

Right now, we are seeing huge pushes on AI like ChatGPT because all the big tech companies want to be the go-to system you choose, just as most of the world “googles” for information now, or works on Windows platforms, or gets a Dell.

This smell system will be another one of those add-on items readily available within about five years, so smell and chemical-sensitive people (and parents paying for it) get ready.

You’ve made it to the end. Thank you for reading, and please share this with friends and ask them to subscribe. Until next time, I challenge you to take a moment to think of your friends. Make sure they don’t all look like you or think like you. That one simple act of knowing will ensure you are embraced with the strength and wisdom of the world.

Now do everything possible to be a decent human being.