Daily Times

An objective study of world history impresses upon us a perennial lesson about why we find ourselves plunged into war time and again, repeating some of the mistakes made by the early superpowers. The lesson, I think, is this: the latter failed to understand — let alone uphold — the basic features of humanity. This is something that German philosopher Immanuel Kant called Unsocial Sociability; and it is, he believed, sine qua non for a peaceful international order.

Unsocial Sociability may be defined as: “the tendency to come together in society, coupled, however, with a continual resistance which constantly threatens to break this society up”. Simply put, this implies that states should be striving to strike a balance between the human instinct to socialise for collective ends while simultaneously resisting one and another when this serves particular concerns. Whereas, in actuality, nations — especially superpowers — single-mindedly pursue their vested interests. During such periods, the natural order becomes disturbed, paving the way for war. This question is once again relevant today. No more so than with Donald Trump at the US helm.

In the post-Cold War period, the US took a prominent role in deciding a New World Order that would be peaceful under its leadership. Yet a quick glance over the two decades since the fall of the Soviet Union would suggest that the world is, in fact, becoming more insecure with each passing year; and that it is US authority that poses the most serious threat to Kant’s concept of Unsocial Sociability.

Let us fast-forward a bit to look at the American incursions into Afghanistan and Iraq. Regarding the former, the mission was to hunt down the 9/11 perpetrators. As for the latter, the objective was to overthrow the authoritarian regime of Saddam Hussein and replace it with a democratic regime that would give the US unfettered access to its oil. Thus the manufactured premise for war was based on allegations of WMDs. Both military adventures were undertaken solely to pursue American regional goals. Yet so poorly executed were they that the backlash has been immense. This has taken the form of terrorist outfits that have seemingly appeared in every corner of the globe. The US attempt to wipe out terrorism by way of its flawed policies in both Kabul and Baghdad have resulted in a world confronting the worst form of instability in the former and a ruthless brand of terror outfits in the latter, in the shape of the Islamic State.

The US nexus between flushing out terrorism and targeting nation states has prompted the current nuclear crises in both Pyongyang and Tehran. These are ominous developments that indicate cracks have begun to appear in the US vision of a post-Cold War new world order

Nevertheless, it is not only within this context that Washington has made the whole world insecure. It is the nexus between flushing out terrorism and targeting nation states that has prompted some to strive for nuclear capability, whether by hook or by crook. Such is the case with both North Korea and Iran, neither of which trusts this new American world order.

Failure to ensure the protection of safeguards under the Treaty on Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) represents another indelible black mark against the US record. Besides the Trump administration has eroded what little successes that the Obama presidency had secured, through diplomacy and negotiation, in terms of curbing Iranian nuclear ambitions. Whereas, North Korea, for its part, has accelerated its weapons programme like never before. These are ominous developments and indicate that cracks have begun to appear in the US vision of a new world order.

The US has also proved its colossal failings on the economic development front, namely in its drastically weakened commitment to combating global warming. Its recent withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change coincided with President Trump terming global warming a Chinese hoax. This speaks volumes about the way in which Washington poses a threat to the natural balance of a peaceful world order by way of its adherence to Unsocial Sociability.

And then there is its unilateral approach to pressing global world issues, most of which have been of America’s own making. This has seen a fraying of ties with Europe, which for the moment is being stewarded by the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. The EU, for all intents and purposes, appears a major US partner. Yet since the end of the Cold War and the removal of the Soviet threat — the two blocs, in reality, have experienced a certain cooling of alliances. Indeed, Brussels now enjoys good relations with both Moscow and Tehran; at a time when Washington does not. Moreover, President Trump did his country no favours when he called upon European states to contribute more to the NATO defence budget.

Thus, given all the above, we may conclude that the US is following in the footsteps of previous superpowers; footsteps that ultimately led the world to war. History teaches us that states, particularly superpowers, enjoy their stint at the top as long as they secure the dynamics of Unsocial Sociability at the global level. Once states start edging away from this — they find that their days are numbered. Thus the priority then becomes new avenues for war; a power matrix among states in their quest for superpower status, regardless of the destruction this brings with it. The burning question remains: will the US under a Trump presidency continue to hurtle along the path towards Unsocial Sociability?

The writer is an MPhil candidate studying International Relations at the University of the Punjab, Lahore. He can be reached at uinam39@gmail.com, https://www.facebook.com/inamullah.marwat.56

Published in Daily Times, October 17^th 2017.