I fear Mearsheimer was right.
In 2005 I was a young student on an introduction to internal relations course. The first
theory we studied was political realism. It was well formulated by John Mearsheimer in his
ground-breaking book “The Tragedy of Great Power Politics.” If I attempt to summarize this
age-old theory the conclusion would be something like this:
- We live in an anarchic world where the rule is 'survival of the strongest.'
- The main player in international relations is the sovereign state.
- States can only rely on themselves and are first and foremost self-serving, caring only for their own interests.
- Peace and military alliances between states are possible but are not a natural situation; they are a limited affair.
- Since each state can only rely on itself, it will always seek to maximize its military power to secure its peace.
The truth is that I’ve always hoped that humanity would be able to come out of the anarchic jungle in which we live our lives. I desired to see open borders, free trade of goods, ideas, students, and an international peace. It is I, of all people, as an Israeli, born of a country constantly under siege and threatened from within and from without, who has truthfully and honestly prayed for a future of peace and quiet. I wanted to hope that the American hegemony to subsist and for the American fleet to go on ensuring the existence of world trade. I had hope that the European Union would thrive, expand, and be an exemplum for more states to join and I even – naïve that I am – hoped for peace in the Middle East.
Nowadays I look around me and am horrified; Russia invades Ukraine on a dictator’s whim,
Iran promotes terrorism and semi-military forces in many countries, Yemen is destroyed, Iraq
is in ruins, Syria is a tragedy, Lebanon is disassembling, Ethiopia is engaged in civil war,
Armenia and Azerbaijan are fighting again, Taiwan is preparing for a possible Chinese
invasion, Japan is arming itself, Germany is arming itself and the United States has lost
its desire to meddle with the Middle East: what could little old Israel do in a world which
is again heading towards a violent jungle? Our leaders would do well to crack open a few
books written by realist theoreticians. It is possible, and it is always well and good to go
on promoting peace processes, alliances, and free trade, the more the merrier. But first and
foremost, one must stand guard.
Yes, the ideal of the well-armed nation state hasn’t dissipated. On the contrary, I’m afraid
that nationalism and jingoism are on the rise worldwide. Add to that the dangerous Muslim
religious insanity and there you have it, a malodourous concoction. Israel should recall
that it, and only it can protect the Jewish people in its land. Unfortunately, we must
strengthen and cultivate the army, police, and all other national security forces. We must
equip ourselves with state-of-the-art weaponry, train the soldiers well and protect our
external and internal borders. Israeli’s tiny fleet must grow in size since there is no way
of knowing when we might have to defend our marine commerce pathways. Our emergency stores
of fuel and supplies must (and here the situation is grave) rapidly increase.
The shift from a comfortable routine to the madness of war, like what has happened in
Ukraine, is a matter of several days. In Israel it might be a matter of hours. We should be
realistic. Once we’re strong we’d be able to sufficiently deter our foes, then we might be
able to think of everything else.
It’s a sad affair, and it will also cost lots of money and efforts which might have been invested in cultural and financial growth. But such is my conclusion from my viewpoint on humanity’s behavior in the year 2022. Israel must be strong and realistic, because if it isn’t, woe betide it.
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