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America's Decline and the Future of Two Political Systems

  • Published in Politics
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The fall of America doesn't have to be a complete collapse -- it is, after all, a country that has managed to reinvent itself many times before. But today it's no longer certain -- or even likely -- that everything will turn out fine in the end. --Der Spiegel


The world as we know it is embroiled in a protracted political crisis that threatens to reshape the existing political order for decades to come. At stake is the fate of two political systems that are inextricably linked and are slowly unravelling on opposite sides of the globe.


In the West, the mighty European Union, once a bastion of stability and power is teetering on the brink of implosion. The euro-debt crisis that has engulfed the European continent threatens to unleash dark forces of nationalism that have remained dormant for sixty odd years.


In the East, the Arab world enslaved by the autocratic regimes implanted by the old European powers are falling like dominoes, and unveiling forces of change that are dynamic and untested.


These events when seen through the lens of optimism are interpreted positively by some; Europe will emerge stronger and more united than before, and the Arab world will be transformed into an oasis of liberty and democracy.


When viewed through the prism of realism a completely different picture emerges. The post-modern European experiment is fast coming to an end, and the Arab world is finally freeing itself from the vicious shackles of colonialism by dislodging pro-Western autocratic regimes. The demise of both political systems is no accident, and is tied to America's global decline. In many ways, the political systems of Europe and the Arab world are a product of American hegemony and ingenuity.


The Marshall Plan provided the edifice for America to control Europe's propensity for war and curb her ambitions to seek and maintain colonies abroad. Post World War II, American leaders sought to diminish Europe's domination of the world. As the historian John Lumberton Harper put it US President Roosevelt wanted "to bring about a radical reduction in the weight of Europe" and thereby make possible "the retirement of Europe from world politics" (Harper, American Visions of Europe: Franklin D. Roosevelt, George F. Kennan, and Dean G. Acheson, Cambridge UK, 1996).


Under the shadow of American economic aid and security architecture, Europe ravaged by war charted a new route towards a postmodernism-a break from the warring nation state which had consumed the continent in the past. Eventually, the European Union (EU) was born, where nationalism was finally suppressed and national sovereignty gave way to a transnational authority that presided in Brussels.

 

Europeans marvelled at their postmodern creation and touted it as the natural evolution from the nation state model. A foremost proponent of this model, Robert Cooper an advisor to former Prime Minister Tony Blair, said, "The postmodern system in which we Europeans live does not rely on balance; nor does it emphasise sovereignty or the separation of domestic and foreign affairs. The European Union has become a highly developed system for mutual interference in each other's domestic affairs, right down to beer and sausages...It is important to realise what an extraordinary revolution this is (The new liberal imperialism, The Guardian, Sunday April 7 2002)." However, the birth of the postmodern state came at a cost. The EU was no position to challenge America's primacy in the world and lost many of its colonies to the US. America employed several means to subdue the EU, especially its most powerful member Germany: the enlargement of NATO, the expansion of the EU to include new member states, and the use of the single currency i.e. the euro.


Through this approach, America was able to control levers of economic and military power in Europe. This continued until the collapse of Lehman brothers, which brought the onset of the current economic depression. The American financial crisis is the real cause behind Europe's economic and political turmoil. It is precipitating the collapse of the EU thereby undermining sixty years of American primacy over European affairs. Probably, Germany will arise from the EU rubble as a major power capable of not only thwarting American interests in Europe, but supplanting her as the main provider of peace and security on the continent. The euro-crisis and not Germany's militarism has handed Berlin a carte blanche to cast European politics in its own image.


Another portent is that within the context of European history the postmodern experience is truly an anomaly. Europe's disposition is to eschew peace and engage in inter-warfare fuelled by unbridled nationalism and the quest for ascendancy over other nations.


The present day Arab world owes much of its political structures and institutions to the old European powers that colonised it. However, after 1945, America emerged as the world's leading state and entered the Arab world with the intention of displacing British and French influence, and usurping the oil fields of the Middle East. The US state department described the find as "[the Middle East is] a stupendous source of strategic power, and one of the greatest material prizes in world history."

 

America had no intention of dismantling the despotic regimes; rather she sought to place her own agents to run these regimes while making false pretences about delivering freedom and democracy around the world. America armed with the "Truman Doctrine" proceeded to deprive the Arab world the freedom from tyranny and the ability to rule for themselves. She covertly buttressed these regimes to keep the Arab population imprisoned and subdued. But in 2011, popular revolts erupted throughout the region, removed a few tyrants, and destabilised the political order America had so painstakingly put together.


Today the political landscape is no longer dominated by secularists; a new wave of Islamic revival has hastened to fill the void. In Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt political Islam is on the ascendancy and its dominance pervades the political medium. Most probably Libya and Yemen will follow suit. Nothing epitomises the Islamic trend better than the stir caused by the moderate Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali who referred to the present time as "a divine moment in a new state, and in hopefully a 6th Caliphate," and that "the liberation of Tunisia will, God willing, bring about the liberation of Jerusalem." If the moderates possess grandiose designs to resurrect the Caliphate then one can only image what most of the Arab masses covet.


The nation state concept is alien to the Arab world, and was imported to the region by European powers. The natural inclination of the Arab masses is to gravitate towards the caliphate-a political system that kept them united under a single leader for well over a thousand years. And certainly the Arab world is firmly on that trajectory, no matter what the American government contrives to portray.


As America struggles to manage its decline, the fate of two political systems is about to change for good. The world will then return to the pre-1945 model-a multipolar world, dominated by different centres of geopolitical influence, with the caliphate at its helm.

 


Abed Mustafah

 

 

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Headline News 01-12-2011

  • Published in News & Comment
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Headlines:


  • OECD: euro collapse would have 'highly devastating outcomes' worldwide
  • UK Police insist they are justified to spy on Muslims in the masjid
  • Egypt: America and the generals plan to crush the opposition
  • West should embrace "Arab Spring" Islamists - Qatar
  • Report: ‘US used nukes on Iraq, Afghanistan'
  • America gloats and refuses to apologize for the massacre of Pakistani soldiers

 

Details

 

OECD: euro collapse would have 'highly devastating outcomes' worldwide

 

The collapse of the euro could send the world's advanced economies into a severe recession, dragging emerging markets with them into the mire, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development warned on Monday. The Paris-based thinktank slashed its forecast for growth among its 34 members from 2.3% half a year ago to 1.6%, with Europe dramatically downgraded from 2% to just 0.2% because of the unresolved sovereign debt crisis. Pier Carlo Padoan, OECD chief economist, made plain in the body's latest six-monthly economic outlook that the greatest threat to global economic health comes from the eurozone rather than from the tax-and-spend gridlock in the US Congress. In his introduction to the report he said: "Recent contagion to countries thought to have relatively solid public finances could massively escalate economic disruption if not addressed."n a devastating critique of eurozone leaders' hesitancy and dilatoriness, he said: "The scenario so far is that Europe's leaders have been behind the curve. We believe this could be very serious."


UK Police insist they are justified to spy on Muslims in the masjid


Muslim organisations in one of Britain's largest cities are warning that the use of undercover police to infiltrate mosques is destroying relations between communities and the police. "It is alarming, you've got one community that is being targeted," Yasmin Dar, a member of the Greater Manchester Police Mosques and Community Forum, told the BBC. "I've not heard of any cases of undercover officers going into churches or synagogues, so why a particular faith? "Relations with the police have hit rock bottom. It has created a lot of mistrust with the police." But a senior police said that undercover policing at mosques throughout the UK would continue and had proved invaluable in providing intelligence that had thwarted "numerous" terrorist plots in the past five years. "I promise you that, if there was a terror threat from Hindus, Jews or Christians, we would be in their temples, synagogues and churches like a shot," he said. "During the decades of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, Protestant and Catholic groups were regularly infiltrated. "The fact is that the principal terror threat in Britain at present is being posed by a very small number of young fanatics, often organised by groups operating in or around mosques. These are the people that we all want to see stopped, including the overwhelming majority of British Muslims."

 

Egypt: America and the generals plan to crush the opposition


A group of customs employees at the Suez seaport have revealed that the Egyptian Ministry of Interior is in the process of receiving 21 tons of tear gas from the US. The claim was supported by Medhat Eissa, an activist in the coastal city of Suez, who provided documents he says he obtained from a group of employees at the Suez Canal customs. The employees have been subjected to questioning for their refusal to allow an initial seven ton shipment of the US-made tear gas canisters enter the port. A group of employees at the Adabiya Seaport in Suez have confirmed, with the documents to prove it, that a three-stage shipment of in total 21 tons of tear gas canisters is on course for the port from the American port of Wilmington. Employees say the container ship Danica, carrying seven tons of tear-gas canisters made by the American company Combined Systems, has already arrived at the port, with two similar shipments from the same company expected to arrive within the week.


West should embrace "Arab Spring" Islamists - Qatar


Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani was quoted on Thursday as saying Islamists were likely to represent the next wave of political power in the Arab world and that the West should embrace them. Thani said in an interview with the Financial Times that moderate Islamists could assist in fighting what he called extremist ideology. "We shouldn't fear them, let's cooperate with them," said Thani, whose Gulf Arab state is home to Al Jazeera television. "We should not have a problem with anyone who operates within the norms of international law, comes to power and fights terrorism," he said. In Egypt, which is holding its first free election in six decades, the Muslim Brotherhood expects to pick up two-fifths of the vote for an assembly that might limit the power of the generals. Tunisia ousted its leader in the first "Arab Spring" revolution this year, and in the country's first democratic election Tunisians elected a coalition government in October led by the moderate Islamist Ennahda party.

 

Report: ‘US used nukes on Iraq, Afghanistan'


The United States has used tactical nuclear weapons in its military campaign against Iraq and Afghanistan, a Middle East expert tells Press TV. "Tactical nuclear weapons were used, at least one in Iraq and several were used in Afghanistan -in the Tora Bora mountains," Peter Eyre, a Middle East consultant, said. Eyre pointed out that the atomic bomb dropped on Afghanistan's Tora Bora region was so powerful that it actually created an earthquake there.The analyst went on to say that the use of such lethal weapons by US military, which is a gross violation of the Geneva Convention, has been sanctioned by the US presidents; thus they should be prosecuted for war crimes.

 

America gloats and refuses to apologize for the massacre of Pakistani soldiers


The White House said US President Barack Obama will not issue a formal apology or condolences on the death of 24 Pakistani soldiers in a Nato attack on the Pak-Afghan border, said a report by The New York Times. However, the State Department officials feel that there is a need for such an apology to mend the straining relationship between the two countries, according to the report. The report stated that US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter, through a video conference, told White House officials that the anti-American sentiment has reached its peak in Pakistan stressing the need for a formal apology by the US. But the White House argued that condolences offered by senior US officials and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were enough till the US completes its investigations into the matter, the report said. "The US government has offered its deepest condolences for the loss of life, from the White House and from Secretary Clinton and Secretary Panetta," said Tommy Vietor, spokesman for the National Security Council, referring to Defense Secretary Leon E Panetta, "and we are conducting an investigation into the incident. We cannot offer additional comment on the circumstances of the incident until we have the results."

 

 

 

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  Pakistan must stand firm against the American crusader

  • Published in Politics
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   Last week the barbaric crusader force NATO again violated Pakistani airspace and launched a callous attack on two Pakistani border check posts, killing 24 soldiers and wounding several others. The attack is the latest episode of NATO's flagrant violation of Pakistani sovereignty, which in conjunction with America routinely carries out vicious drone strikes that have slaughtered countless innocent civilians.
When killing Pakistani civilians is not enough to satisfy their thirst for Muslim blood, NATO and America occasionally kill Pakistani soldiers and then apportion the blame on the Pakistanis for starting the confrontation. But in all such incidents the lack of physical response from the Pakistani army only emboldens NATO and bolsters America's will to carry out further raids.


Earlier this year, America undertook a prolonged violation of Pakistani sovereignty and launched a daring raid in Abbotabad that again went unchallenged. Pakistanis to this day are angry at the army and many suspect Kayani for aiding and abetting America.


The ease at which NATO and America violate Pakistan's sovereignty to carry out drone strikes, land operations, reconnaissance missions, and other non-military activities such as interference in the judicial system to secure the release of Raymond Davis is extremely worrisome, especially as the response from both the government and the army is always tough on rhetoric but empty on concrete actions. Meek actions like the temporary closure of the Afghan-Pak border to prevent convoys laden with fuel and goods from reaching NATO are not enough. It only adds insult to injury. By choosing not to stand up to the crusaders, Kiyani and Zardari are keen to humiliate Pakistanis further. Both have spearheaded America's crusade by granting America full access to kill, maim, torture and displace Pakistanis in the tribal areas. Their foremost concern is to protect their alliance with the American crusaders. Allah says in the Quran: "O ye who believe! Choose not My enemy and your enemy for friends. Do ye give them friendship when they disbelieve in that truth which hath come unto you, driving out the messenger and you because ye believe in Allah, your Lord? "[TMQ Al Mumtahina:1]


If the reaction of Kayani and Zardari is bad enough, the reaction from Pakistan's political establishment is even worse. Some of these politicians who advocate a tough response have earlier been exposed for siding with America's war against Islam. Their stance only smacks of hypocrisy and their treachery reeks of evilness. Allah promises the hypocrites a severe punishment. He (SWT) says:"To the Hypocrites give the glad tidings that there is for them a grievous penalty."[TMQ: Al Maida:138].


It is up to the Muslims of Pakistan to press sincere officers and soldiers in the army to immediately implement the following actions:
1. Permanently sever the NATO supply line and seize all equipment and fuel.


2. Close all airbases and waterways to NATO and American personnel. All military personnel, embassy staff belonging to Western forces are to be ejected from Pakistan.


3. Terminate all western led military training programmes and military aid
4. Dismantle all American death squads that operate with impunity in Pakistan.
5. Stop all forms of intelligence sharing with NATO, CIA and other foreign agencies.
6. Press Turkey and other Muslim countries to withdraw all forms of assistance to NATO and the American crusader.
7. Shoot down any predator drone and NATO aircraft that violates Pakistani airspace.
The above actions are temporary measures to prevent the crusaders from violating Pakistan's sovereignty. A more permanent solution requires the Pakistani people to work jointly with the people of power to re-establish the Islamic state. Only then will the crusaders be vanquished and removed from Pakistan.
Abo Hashim Albanjabi

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Mohmand Agency Attacked by NATO! The Consequence of Giving Milk to the Snake Zardari and Kiyani Responsible for the Dozens of Soldiers Killed

The American attack on Mohmand Agency has once again proved that America is Pakistan's foremost enemy. The traitors amongst the political and military leadership are the ones who are really responsible for this attack. They have encouraged the U.S to repeatedly attack the nuclear-armed world's seventh largest armed forces.

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Islamabad High Court Provides Legal Cover for Abductions and Torture by Government Agencies Court Refuses to Act Against Government Agencies for Providing False Affidavits and Conducting Illegal Abductions

The Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court, Iqbal Hameed ur Rehman has showed his loyalty to the government agencies by disposing off the writ petition of two abducted members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, without taking any legal action. A member of Hizb ut-Tahrir registered his statement before a magistrate in which he named ISI and MI as the abductors. But instead of taking action against the intelligence agencies, the Chief Justice simply disposed of the writ.

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Headline News 24-11-2011

  • Published in News & Comment
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Headlines:

  • Euro on ‘Death Watch' After Investors Spurn German Bonds
  • US and Arab States Set to Impose No Fly Zone over Syria
  • Bush, Blair Found Guilty of War Crimes
  • Republican Candidates Vilify Pakistan

 

Details:

Euro on ‘Death Watch' After Investors Spurn German Bonds:

Investors began to fear the worst for the euro after unusually weak demand at an auction for bonds from Germany, the region's largest economy. One analyst went so far as to put the currency on a "death watch." Germany sold just 60 percent of the 6 billion euros in 10-year bunds it brought to auction, about the weakest demand seen for the country's debt in the currency's 16-year history, economists said. The rejection of debt from Europe's safe harbor marks a new stage for the crisis. "No bunds wanted equals no Euros wanted equals the Euro death watch," wrote Mark Steele, an analyst with BMO Capital Markets. "We have seen many poor German auctions. This is not the issue. The issue is how badly the euro is doing after the weak auction."

Day by day, the elite of Europe are facing the wrath of their people, and watching their economic and political systems unravel. It is only a matter of time now, before Europe return to the politics of pre-1945. Europe is heading towards what it does best, fighting each other on the continent on a new waves of nationalism and bigotry to everything that is foreign, which includes the destruction of fellow Europeans.

US and Arab states set to impose no fly zone over Syria:

Reports out of Kuwait suggest that Arab states are set to impose a no fly zone over Syria with US logistical support, advancing the prospect of a military assault to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad under a "humanitarian" pretext. "Senior European sources said that Arab jet fighters, and possibly Turkish warplanes, backed by American logistic support will implement a no fly zone in Syria's skies, after the Arab League will issue a decision, under its Charter, calling for the protection of Syrian civilians," reports Albawaba, citing Kuwait's al Rai daily. YNet news, the website for Israel's most widely read newspaper, also carried the report. As part of a plan to cripple the country's military forces within 24 hours, the "movement of Syrian military vehicles, including tanks, personnel carriers and artillery," would all be banned under the terms of the no fly zone. Syrian opposition forces have repeatedly called for a no fly zone to be enforced over the country, but last month NATO all but ruled out the prospect. Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry has also called on the Obama administration to impose a no fly zone without waiting for a green light from the United Nations.

Why is it that Islamic countries are responding to the beckon call of the West once more and cooperating in sin? Allah (swt) says in the Quran: "Help not one another unto sin and transgression, but keep your duty to Allah. Lo! Allah is severe in punishment."[TMQ: Al Maida: 2]. The correct solutions is for the Muslim armies to intervene in Syria and stop the bloodshed. But this can only happen if they are sincere to the ummah and Islam and not to the rulers who command them.

Bush, Blair found guilty of war crimes:

A War Crimes Tribunal in Malaysia has found former US President George W. Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair guilty of war crimes for their roles in the Iraq war, Press TV reports. The five-panel Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal decided that Bush and Blair committed genocide and crimes against humanity by leading the invasion of Iraq in 2003, a Press TV correspondent reported on Tuesday. In 2003, the US and Britain invaded Iraq in blatant violation of international law and under the pretext of finding weapons of mass destruction allegedly stockpiled by former Western agent Saddam Hussein. The Malaysian tribunal judges ruled that the decision to wage war against Iraq by the two former heads of government was a flagrant abuse of law and an act of aggression that led to large-scale massacres of the Iraqi people. Bombings and other forms of violence became commonplace in Iraq shortly after the US-led invasion of the country. In their ruling, the tribunal judges also stated that the US, under the leadership of Bush, fabricated documents to make it appear that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. However, the world later learned that the former Iraqi regime did not possess WMDs and that the US and British leaders knew this all along. Over one million Iraqis were slaughtered during the invasion, according to the California-based investigative organization Project Censored. The judges also said the court findings should be provided to signatories to the Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court, and added that the names of Bush and Blair should be listed on a war crimes register.

The only way to bring the crusading savages to justice is not through mock trials, but rather through the establishment of the rightly guided Islamic State. This can only be achieved by the Muslim world seeking to liberate itself from the shackles of Western colonialism and giving baiya to a just ruler who will implement Islam and hold enemies of the ummah to account.

Republican candidates vilify Pakistan:

The Republican presidential hopefuls criticised US policy towards Pakistan in a lively and substantive foreign policy debate on Tuesday. In the debate the Republicans ganged up on Pakistan and questioned whether the US could trust it. Texas Governor Rick Perry called Pakistan unworthy of US aid because it had not done enough to help fight al Qaeda. "To write a check to countries that are clearly not representing American interests is nonsensical," said Perry. Representative Michele Bachmann, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, called Perry "highly naive" and said the United States should demand more from a "violent and unstable" Pakistan with nuclear weapons. She called it "a nation that lies, that does everything possible that you could imagine wrong. At the same time they do share intelligence data with us regarding al Qaeda." Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney said US aid to Islamabad could help "bring Pakistan into the 21st century, or the 20th century for that matter." The extensive criticism of Pakistan featured "nasty and provocative language," said Teresita Schaffer, a non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution, but she said a Republican president probably would not change Pakistan policy much.

These are the same people that the elite of Pakistan falls over each other to impress and covets their attention. Allah says in the Quran: "O you who believe, take not for intimate friends others than your own people: they spare no pains to cause you loss. They love that which distresses you. Vehement hatred has already appeared from out of their mouths, and that which their hearts conceal is greater still. Indeed We have made the messages clear to you, if you understand." [TMQ: Al Imran:118]

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