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“If the Western Democracies stand together in strict adherence to the principles of the United Nations charter, their influence for furthering these principles
by perceptronas 5y ago
“If the Western Democracies stand together in strict adherence to the principles of the United Nations charter, their influence for furthering these principles will be immense and no one is likely to molest them,” Churchill remarked in his Iron Curtain speech. “If however they become divided or falter in their duty and if these all-important years are allowed to slip away then indeed catastrophe may overwhelm us all.”
Interesting thought, this goes way beyond Europe and Russia.
- baybal2 5y agoDecades of the West spoonfeeding dictators, and other "our bastards" after the collapse of USSR came back to roost. The War on Error has made the West completely oblivious to the number of very big elephants in the room while politicians were playing the War on Error as if it was some kind of CounterStrike game, and then wasted time on refugee crisis, Trump, Brexit, and various other piss contests.
- civilized 5y agoAutocracies around the world now know our dirty secret: democracies are stupid. Just wait a while, and even the strongest democracy will chase its own tail to exhaustion. And you will have a free hand to remake the world to your liking. (Of course, Putin's invasion of Ukraine is its own variety of stupid, but not quite the same one.)
- cafard 5y agoWhen the herald had spoken thus, Cyrus is said to have asked those of the Hellenes whom he had with him, what men the Lacedemonians were and how many in number, that they made this proclamation to him; and hearing their answer he said to the Spartan herald: "Never yet did I fear men such as these, who have a place appointed in the midst of their city where they gather together and deceive one another by false oaths: and if I continue in good health, not the misfortunes of the Ionians will be for them a subject of talk, but rather their own." These words Cyrus threw out scornfully with reference to the Hellenes in general, because they have got for themselves markets and practise buying and selling there; for the Persians themselves are not wont to use markets nor have they any market-place at all. Herodotus (https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2707/pg2707.txt https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2707/pg2707.txt)
- marcosdumay 5y agoHum... Democracies sure look stupid on the daily news, but those things didn't push any of them into exhaustion. Instead, the enemy is what it always was, corruption and violent subpopulations. Every democracy that falls, goes through both of those. On the autocracies side, it looks like they also are as they always were: blind by subservience. About every single time one of them is tested, the ruler doesn't know up from down and the population don't know (or don't want to know) what to follow.
- oblio 5y ago> Instead, the enemy is what it always was, corruption and violent subpopulations. Every democracy that falls, goes through both of those. Or external threats. Eastern Europe was battling with both the enemies you mentioned, but then the Soviets came and sealed the deal for almost 50 years.
- anthony_romeo 5y agoI prefer to think of a democracy as an unstable fixed point and requires active support and maintenance by its citizens/leadership to remain close to that point.
- newsclues 5y agoThe history of World War 1 includes England using Germany against Russia. We get a new war with the same objectives a century later.
- cafard 5y agoNot sure what you mean here about WW I.
- newsclues 5y agoWorld war 1 https://www.corbettreport.com/wwi/ https://www.corbettreport.com/wwi/
- pjmlp 5y agoWhat I fear is that is slowing coming to us anyway, is like watching the history lessons being replayed, killing in Sarajevo, "liberating" Poland,....
- parthdesai 5y agoPretty ironic coming from Churchill.