Most ads are interactive -- click on them to visit the folks who make The Panama News possible

opinion

Also in this section:
Bernal, the "MAMIocracy"
Leis, Panama's indigenous comarcas
What they're saying about the Iraq War and the protests against it
Cooper, The United States vs. reporters in Iraq
Armington & Birns, Roger Noriega's sorry Latin American policy legacy
Gutman, Grooming politicians for Satan
Silié, From the Cold War to the War on Terror
Avneri, Likudnik gladiators
Stimson, China's new leader isn't the right man
Sliwa, Freeing Africa's child soldiers
Jackson, Putting campus radicals to the test
Lettieri & Birns, University of Panama's mess gets worse

The Greater Caribbean This Week

Looking at the Berlin Wall from the War on Terrorism

by Rubén Silié

November 9 marks yet another anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Participating in that event were all societies around the world that were terrified by the hostilities characteristic of the Cold War period. However, 15 years later, the illusions and hopes that arose at that time for a peaceful world have since been dashed.

The first hopeful example of that event was the unification of Germany, which occurred one year later under the astounded eyes of disbelievers, who did not expect that the telluric forces of a people could be reborn with enough momentum, without forgetting the past, to open up the way for the desires of divided families, putting aside the hatred that was inculcated by the policy of the major international blocs that guided the destinies of the world, placing their ideologies above the genuine interest of the peoples.

The global strategies of the Cold War had introduced the world to all sorts of weapons and to some extent, what helped bring an end to that unfortunate stage in humanity’s history was the fear created among the same super powers by the generalization of any type of arms that jeopardised the survival of humanity.

Since the Second World War, mankind operated only in war code: the Korean War; the Vietnam War; the Yom Kippur War; the nuclear war; the “Swiss” War; the Gulf War; in addition to the numerous guerrilla wars. At that time, the masterminds of war seemed to regret having wasted so many resources on arms that were produced for the purpose of creating fear, especially among those whose levels of poverty required a shift from investments in military weapons to investments to begin social development and the fight against poverty. According to Federico Mayor: “resources dedicated to weapons are lost resources for the vital sectors of development.”

The most tangible result of the myriad changes initiated by the world upon the collapse of the Berlin Wall was the conviction that the peoples of the world wanted to live in freedom, beginning a powerful trend, continuing to fight internationally for the “globalization of democracy.” The peoples began their fight for social and political participation and the traditional sponsors of Latin American and Caribbean dictatorships, drawing reference to our region alone, seem to have come to the understanding that democracy cannot be achieved through authoritarian governments, as claimed during those times.

Nevertheless, since social changes are not linear, 15 years after that magnificent event, we find ourselves in the midst of a new kind of confrontation, which, given the discredit associated with the word “war,” since the nineties, such confrontation is now referred to as armed conflict. Unlike the world wars, this one is global and does not necessarily target specific states, in addition to which, many of the states committed to that war do not confront the enemy, but instead they engage in that war ideologically or in a declaratory fashion, while the enemy directs its threat toward very specific focal points.

This is the war on terrorism and while it is defined as a religious war or a war of civilizations, what is certain is that we are facing an inheritance from the Cold War, when arms producers delivered weapons time and again, into the hands of groups which, at one point or the other, supported them without considering who they supported before they became their allies.

Our best offering to the victims of the Cold War is to remember that investing in war does not eradicate poverty.

Dr. Rubén Silié Valdez is the Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States. The views expressed are not necessarily the official views of the ACS. Feedback can be sent to: mail@acs-aec.org