From the TED website:
Paddy Ashdown claims that we are living in a moment in history where power is changing in ways it never has before. In a spellbinding talk he outlines the three major global shifts that he sees coming.This talk was filmed atTEDxBrussels in December 2011.
More of a ramble than a coherent account but interestingly this was recorded in December 2011. Who then thought that the US would be looking to Iran and its sponsored Shia militias to further its foreign policy in the Middle East. Paddy specifically forecast that we would be looking for a multiplicity of alliances including those with our former allies.
ReplyDeleteThis adds to some feelings I've had for a while.
ReplyDeleteThe NSA/GCHQ etc spying scandals seem like the last gasp of the hierarchical powers trying to control the network.
Putin's attempts to reestablish the Russian Empire are a reaction to the horizontal shifts in power, and to an extent trying to control the vertical ones.
We're seeing in the Middle East the end of the post-WWI settlement.
It looks increasingly like the end of the large nation state could be in sight - the end of Westphalian sovereignty.
What the effects of this will be I don't know. Its up to liberals (and libertarians of the vulgar sort) to try work to ensure that those without current power do not get swamped and can claim a stake in the future.
The talk also lends credence to my view that liberalism is fundamentally about power - and its wide dispersion (equality of power if you like).