GEORGE W Bush is no longer friends with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder ever since the latter, who has just been narrowly re-elected, had the gall to oppose military action against Iraq. Meanwhile, the United States military machine is getting ready for yet another strike against a country that has already been pummeled many times over. In West Asia, a familiar scene presents itself – Israeli forces running riot through Palestinian towns and villages, and to top it all off, Yasser Arafat's headquarters being bulldozed to the ground.
It would be inaccurate to say that Gerhard Schroeder, or other Western European leaders who are opposing military action against Iraq or voicing even the slightest concern about state-sponsored terrorism in Israel, are the world's most prominent upholders of human rights. But nonetheless, they seem to have decided that absurdity must stop somewhere. If not, the 'war on terror' could go on indefinitely, and that augurs badly for the entire world, rich or poor, powerful or weak. Nevertheless, it is likely that Bush will have his way, and Chancellor Schroeder will just have to accept that.
And so, as all common sense seems to be quickly dissipating from the practice of international politics, South Asians should consider how US unilateralism will affect us on the home front. After all, what happens at home is intimately related to the myopic decisions of George W Bush and his operatives the world over. The upcoming Pakistani general election is the strongest evidence of this unfortunate fact.
It is now common knowledge that the Pakistani military has gone out of its way to ensure the consolidation of its role in politics once the newly elected government comes to power. Indeed, whether or not it will actually be accurate to term the new government as being democratically elected remains to be seen. But the fact is that the election will take place, and when it is over, there is little that is likely to substantively change.