Sunday, December 4, 2016
WWII 2.0
Increasingly people are worried about how Trump's victory could be copied in Europe and how it bring about a new world balance. These fears are well grounded with Brexit and the recent Italian referendum signaling more and more countries trying to break from the EU. More worryingly CNN recently interviewed Marine le-Pen from France's National Front ,who said that Trump's victory would help her nationalist platform and "as a sign of hope". Unfortunately many this increasing nationalism as a repeat of the rise of Fascism in WWII and that have led a few to even predict a repeat and a WWIII. However, I do not think that such fears are well founded due to two very potent weapons, globalization, and nuclear weapons. It has set the stakes for confrontation so high and with no real winners that any sabre rattling would be just that. Insults and tweets and phone calls but no action because we rely on each other so much in the global economy and war wipes out everyone.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Although I'm already over my weekly "2 comments" limit I just want to clarify one thing right here.
ReplyDeleteNationalism =/= Fascism
To compare the rise of people's pride in their countries and support for their citizens is incomparable (and quite absurd to claim) to an authoritarian far-right wing form of government.
However, nationalism is a component of fascism. Fascism takes pride in one's country to an extreme and uses it to manipulate people. There's also the fear that many of these leaders might not want to give up their seats once their terms are over. Add in the rising wave of antisemitism across Europe and the US, and things do start to look possibly concerning.
DeleteMaybe a war won't happen. Maybe we're wrong, and Trump is all for the balance of power. I certainly can't see inside his head. But to simply dismiss our claims as unfounded and absurdist is oversimplifying our point.