No more totalitarianism

Is history repeating itself?

“A new breeze is blowing, and a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn; for in man's heart, if not in fact, the day of the dictator is over. The totalitarian era is passing, its old ideas blown away like leaves from an ancient, lifeless tree.” said George H. W. Bush in his presidential inaugural speech in 1989. This was an era during which the majority of the world was grappling with democracy, an era in which people were proud of their freedom. The president spoke about the end of the Vietnam War, which lasted for more than 19 years, emphasizing the end of communism and autocracy.

Francis Fukuyama, an American political scientist, announced the “end of history” and inevitable triumph of liberal capitalist democracy. His argument was simple: Democracy would win out over all other forms of government because the natural desire for peace and well-being set nations on a path to progress from which it was impossible to divert. If a state—even a Communist one—wished to enjoy the greatest prosperity possible, it would have to embrace some measure of capitalism. World peace seemed to be a reality.

Today, after a quarter of a century, world peace has become whimsical. Israel and Palestine are in conflict since 2006, Russia and Ukraine are fighting for Crimea, and the Arab world is under turmoil with the raise of war for soul of Islam between Shittes and Sunnies. The cause of concern is that these wars or conflicts are not for freedom, but for power or for totalitarianism.

In Nineteen Eighty Four (1984), George Orwell creates a dystopian world to describe the political situation during the mid-twentieth century. The author astutely describes the ravenousness for freedom through the protagonist Winston Smith, and oppressive rule by Big Brother and the party. Orwell supported war because he believed it is a choice of evil. For example, he would support USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) against Germany because of his view that the USSR cannot altogether escape its past and retain enough of the original ideas of revolution to make it a more hopeful phenomenon than Nazi Germany.

Are the current wars a lesser evil? The total military spending across the world has reached its cold war level, with a few nations, such as, the United States, actually retainin  their spending. As reported by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the global spending on military was around $1.7 trillion in 2013. These military supports are enough to destroy the world. What we saw in the Gaza massacre and Malaysia Airline MH17 plane crash at Ukraine-Russia border can be said to be a lesser evil or a trailer of a big picture.

Scotland, a part of United Kingdom since last 307 years, is struggling for independence. Scotland has based its grounds for separation on culture, ideology, politics, and economics. It is not only Scotland who is seeking to withdraw national boundaries. There are independence movements in many parts of the world; 39 new states have joined the United Nations since 1980s. Many more aspirants are waiting in the wings for independence.

So, is history is repeating itself? We would say that there is lot more to see. We don’t know when these wars will end, and how many more are at an edge of upsurge. All we can say is that it’s still not the end of history.