What Advice Can the Pot Offer the Kettle?
You’ll never guess (well, maybe you will) who said this about a unipolar global ideology and one world government:
However, what is a unipolar world? However one might embellish this term, at the end of the day it refers to one type of situation, namely one centre of authority, one centre of force, one centre of decision-making.
It is world in which there is one master, one sovereign. And at the end of the day this is pernicious not only for all those within this system, but also for the sovereign itself because it destroys itself from within.
And this certainly has nothing in common with democracy. Because, as you know, democracy is the power of the majority in light of the interests and opinions of the minority.
It’s Vladimir Putin! Now, I’m not a fan of Russia and I’m not sure how much Putin knows about democracy, but when he directed this speech at America, I think he was right. We only get ourselves in trouble by assuming one system is right for everyone, everywhere. Sometimes our opponents can tell us things we’re not prepared to tell ourselves.
While Bush has strengthened the U.S. presidency, Putin has further strengthened the Russian presidency. So we have the really-dark pot calling the kettle black here.
Much of the recent press on Putin has discussed how he is grabbing power left and right at the expense of the legislature and judiciary. There are also the high profile incidents with the reporter and spy who were killed ostensibly for being anti-Putin.
Here’s a couple articles to get you started, talking about Condoleezza Rice’s recent trip to Russia. Keep in mind Condi was one of the world’s foremost experts on Russia before she was involved in W’s administration.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7043312.stm
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/rice-tiptoes-around-putins-possible-power-grab/2007/10/14/1192300600730.html
and something a little more biased
http://www.progressiveu.org/132700-russian-math-stalin-facial-hair-putin
Oh I should have checked your links there… I see you are already on to Putin!