Sometimes the entire context seems to hinge on Iraq, sans context of time or space. But is the Iraq situation such an anomaly? Has US foreign policy in the region really never been this messy before?
The following is a reflection crossposted from my blog with some additional content.
(Updated to reflect another boneheaded incident brought to you by the current US administration.)
Where I'm sitting right now, the average temperature is about 33°C and the droning of grasscutting equipment fills the distant air. It's a vengeful onslaught presaging a really hot summer. Or so you would think, if you hadn't just had a really cold rainy few days prior to this.
It's hard to think about higher average temperatures when you've been having the occasional bout of record-breaking lowest-ever local temperatures. It's hard to think about global warming when everyone seems to be wondering about nuclear fireballs. It's easy to think of American strategy in the Middle East as an aberration of foreign policy.
But the average temperature is going up, the desire for nuclear playthings likewise, and American strategy in the Middle East is something we've come to expect from certain kinds of administrations. Back in the latter part of the 20th century, America backed India with arms shipments (which India then used to absorb the smaller states of Goa, Hyderabad and so on) then switched to Pakistan as a counterbalance (and supplied them F-15s, believe it or not). Thus, the two big South Asian democracies (yes, India is indeed the largest democracy in the world) were put at each other's throats to the benefit of the US military-industrial complex.
Who do you think is to blame for the fact that both Pakistan and India have some kind of nuclear capability? Maybe China; it's convenient to blame them. But the first arms traders to make a killing in South Asia were the British, followed by the Russians and Americans. And the killing hasn't stopped.
I think the problem that Americans have in seeing all this is that Americans don't have a very detailed mental map of the world. The Onion's Our Dumb World: Atlas of the Planet Earth (73rd Edition) is a masterpiece of lampoonery directed at mainly American stereotypical perceptions. Unfortunately, the fragments which substitute for a mental map are indeed a lot like the funny bits lovingly assembled by The Onion's team.
But here are a few things to consider.
- Why did America spend the late 20th century pissing off the largest democracy in the world by planting billions of dollars in arms on its doorstep?
- Why does much of America think Iran is a small uncivilised place full of religious extremists?
- Why does America seem to want military bases in Iraq?
I'm going to give answers typical of one kind of answers a South Asian might give.
- Because America is arrogant and doesn't like the idea that India is more democratic than they are.
- Because Americans are ignorant people who know nothing about ancient Persia or the fact that 'Iran' means 'Land of the Aryans' or that it is the 18th largest country in the world, with a population of over 70m.
- Because for some reason, America thinks that political power comes out of the barrel of a gun, preferably with nearby resupply points and runways.
These answers may be true, partly true, or untrue. And yes, a lot of people out there (and in the US) think of the USA as just 'America', a convenient symbol for all that is good or bad or seasonally inconvenient. But they're common answers, which is why perhaps the coming Presidential elections look more hopeful than most.
And so outside my window, the heatwave continues. The haze rises off the ground, and you can see little of clarity beyond it. The drone of the grasscutting machines fills the air with white noise and green flecks. And everything hangs, uncertain.
UPDATE: Well, well, well. Now US forces have fired on Pakistani soldiers within Pakistan, all while the present administration is trying to make friends with Pakistan's newly-elected government. Pakistan's neighbours are all being treated to a grandstand view of how the US treats its friends and allies. Is this helpful foreign policy? Is it meant to be? Sigh.