The New Nation State ? Or A New Hegemony

Last night the UN gave legal sanction for all neccesary means be used to protect the civilian population of Libya. Why ? out of moral principle ? There are plenty of countries in Africa whose despots have carried out pogroms against minorities and have oppressed their populations and have little to fear from the UN.


The French came out very early on in their de facto recognition of the new Libya, and will expect to be rewarded, the British Government wary of another foreign and bloody entanglement have not followed the Blair model of international intervention and sought legal sanction first. Britain will also be expecting to be rewarded.


Blair/Brown's cosy relations with the Al Ghaddafi regime were nauseating, no doubt they would argue realpolitik to justify their amorality, as socialists do the world over.

The world is in flux at present, there are new countries on the horizon South Sudan and Somaliland.


Somaliland has been de facto independent for twenty years but has few natural resources, so it has not been worth upsetting the international applecart by the west recognising it. However its position is strategically important so its existance is 'tolerated'.

South Sudan is oil rich, and can expect to have a lot of new 'friends'.


The bottom up revolution that started in Tunisia is creating a political tsunami. Post colonial socialist states have failed in a spectacular fashion since the sixties. Authoritarianism of all varieties,monarchical,socialist and dictatorship are being swept aside.


Those regimes that do not recognise this and act in deference to the people will disappear. Housing, business, jobs and health will become the central issue for the new leaders, not guns,fast cars and swiss bank accounts.


Al-Ghaddafi is tonight offering a cease fire, his personal days in power are now numbered. The times are a changing.