Patrick O'Brian Discussion Forum

Try this.

The Last of the True French Short Bastards
ewadams@designersnotebook.com

Germany initiates World War I. The Allies fight Germany and force her to the bargaining table, at which time she signs the armistice. Note that Germany was not overthrown, conquered, or annexed; she was and remained a sovereign nation. Eventually she signed the Versailles Treaty, which among other things required that Germany not re-arm. These were terms to which she agreed. Germany didn't have to; she could have gone back to war, but she didn't. She accepted and agreed to the constraints on her behavior.

Germany DID re-arm. This was a violation of the Versailles Treaty. The Allies would have been entirely within their rights to invade Germany to compel conformance to the treaty -- and should have; it would have saved a lot of trouble later. It does not require a world government. It's just a mutual compact to behave in certain ways, with sanctions for violation.

The basis for democratic government, in which people agree to order the business of their nation in a certain way, is no different as far as I can see, from the basis for treaties, in which nations agree to order the business of the world in a certain way. Such ordering, in both cases, is called law. Within a nation it is domestic law; internationally, it is international law.

One difference is that nations enter treaties voluntarily while people are born as citizens involuntarily; but this places even more onus on nations to respect their obligations than citizens have towards their nation. Sovereignty is not and has never been absolute.

It has become commonplace for certain groups to sneer at the notion of international law, and as far as I can tell they are really just crypto-imperialists, who secretly believe that America should be able to do as she damn well pleases in the world simply because she is wealthy and powerful. This is dangerous hubris. The current recession has shifted the balance significantly towards China, which loaned us a lot of money under Bush and still more money under Obama. The world is beginning to recognize that the US will soon cease to be the prime mover in the global economy, and when that happens, trying to throw our weight around will be counter-productive indeed.

Twenty years of being the world's only super-power has earned us exactly squat with Iran, which has the second largest supply of oil and gas on Earth. The Russians and Chinese have made peace there and are now benefiting from it.

Sat Oct 31

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