John Negroponte interview
Hi Folks,
We just posted some Q&A with John Negroponte over at Bellum:
http://bellum.stanfordreview.org/?p=1500
Two interesting aspects:
1. His comments on the durability of the nation-state.
2. His assertion that the world today is "quite benign"
Compare #2, especially, to the oft-repeated assertion by many -- from the President on downward -- that we live in a very "dangerous world."
Would love to hear what the forum thinks about his views on the nation-state -- perhaps in the context of his role in Honduras and Iraq as ambassador.
Tristan
The historical aspiration of the EU
from its beginning as the Schumann Plan (with a huge assist from Jean Monnet) through the ECSC, EEC, EC, to the EU was to achieve a United States of Europe - a true nation-state. In this it followed some of the lessons perceived as being Bismarck's strategy to achieve the union of the German states. The aspiration for a nation-state is, in my judgement, still there. Whether the EU will achieve it is an open question. So the EU remains in a state of becoming - it is not what it was nor is it yet what it will be.
Cheers
JohnT
Wilf, since I don't read Hebrew
I wonder how the word that is translated into English as "nation" really would translate if it were done carefully. As lovely as the King James translation is - and IMO it is the Bilble as literature in the English language - modern scholarship questions the accuracy of some of its translations. Can you enlighten me on the translation of the word from the ancient Hebrew or ask someone you know who could. I understand that modern Hebrew is somewhat different from the ancient language sorta like modern Greek differs from its ancient counterpart.
Cheers
JohnT