I get to say 'meme!'

Not really happy with those last two posts. I'm trying to understand an unstated idea haunting the anti-war/anti-Bush rhetoric these days, something I've been thinking of as the 'War-Bad-No-Fightee' meme (told ya). In essence, prior to the Bush administration the developed world was in the middle of a let's-all-get-along phase, in which we could use diplomacy and negotiation to solve all the world's problems and nobody ever needed to fight anymore. Of course this meant some problems elsewhere - notably places like Bosnia and Rwanda. It also produced Kyoto, about which everybody fell all over themselves saying nice things but nobody really liked. Until Bush ditched it. The heat he took was not so much for doing it as for doing it publicly, but notice that since then Russia has followed suit, Canada suddenly has deep reservations and of the 15 EU countries, only two are going to be in compliance (Britain and Sweden. Hey, where's France?). The EU constitution is another example; the enthusiasm of some members damped the concerns of others for quite a while, then the document turned out to be badly flawed and there was a revolt.

The bottom line, I think, is that we're supposed to use only carrots, never sticks. Resorting to force means you've given up on international institutions and, by association, the peaceful, civilized society they represent. I'm working on it.
- posted by Dactyl @ 12:10 PM