A dangerous détente

Comment on a collective political essay

One doesn’t need to be a historian to observe how fast and out of control the new century evolves. If Eric Hobsbawm, the greatest historian of the age, has called the 20^th century ‘’short’’, I think he wouldn’t deny us the right to already characterize the 21^st century as ‘’dense’’. A recent Greek book, collection of unequal in quantity and quality articles, extending its scientific field from political science to economy via diplomatic relations, constitutes a nice illustration. This word is not accidental, as what’s interesting in this volume titled ‘’From Bush to Obama”, edited by the indefatigable Sotiris Dalis, lies mainly in its panoramic view, thus justifying the subtitle ‘’ International politics in a changing world’’.

‘’Multi-polarity’’ and ‘’turmoil’’, are, I believe, the two key-words of both the era and the book. It is also noticed by the unforgettable Viron Theodoropoulos in his short but concise prologue: perhaps never again in history have there simultaneously existed (at least with such perception from global conscience) so many issues (a fact which also provides a possible side-explanation of the retreat of politics), so many “players” (individuals and countries), so many reversals of relations and situations, such great mobility (speed, but not necessarily movement).

And never again has there been such sense of uncertainty, so many conflicts beyond the traditional form of wars, so many sources of future conflicts (water and energy resources, impact of climate change), such likelihood of non- cyclical downward changing and so many crises of such permanence and structure, at the level of both “great” and “small” history (with Internet communication certainly playing an important part in abolishing the distance). If we tried to put together the pieces of this huge jigsaw, we would possibly lead ourselves into thinking that the “Cold War of prosperity", which has dominated the second half of the 20th century, was succeeded at first by the feigned calm of a never arriving “End of history' and, after 2001, by a “dangerous global détente”, without centre of gravity, without compass, with less and ever-decreasing constants.

Especially for America, being maybe the focus of the book but already not as much the centre of the world and of global developments, the image is inexorable. Despite the succession of persons in positions of power, giving the volume its title, and the consequent emphasis of the new leadership on a more extrovert and imaginative use of "soft power", the USA is constantly losing in power and influence. China grooming itself to become the new “Rome” of 21^st century, the outbreak of the financial crisis in the homeland of capitalism (and also the revelation of the ‘’nudity” of the Anglo-Saxon type of capitalism), the permanent difficulties of the US relationship with an anile and shaken Europe, the all too frequent 'secession' of regional powers from the American sphere of influence (Turkey is such an example), but also the paradox of USA under Obama being closer than many European countries to the Social-Democratic model of politics (one has just to compare the respective "exit strategies" from the crisis and the USA role within the G-20), all these developments are examined in the book and allow us to think that the change of guard in the world order has, in fact, already taken place. Nevertheless a sense of dead end prevails. The dividing lines may have fallen but a "progressive" solution does not appear anywhere, the problem of devaluation of democracy deepens, distribution of prosperity remains an issue, awareness for the environment is not translated into equivalent dynamic action (the Conference of Copenhagen is an example of the "new political order" and at the same time of the weakness of politics and the depreciation of the USA). “Multi-polarity” does not lead only to a diffusion of power but also to an increasing threat of abusing it. Concluding as we started, with Hobsbawm’s words, we may say that our times are certainly "interesting", especially for those who are nourished by danger.

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