In 1989, Francis Fukuyama wrote his essay “The End of History?”. In 1992, the year the Soviet Union collapsed, he followed with a book “The End of History and the Last Man”, arguing that the advent of Western liberal democracy may signal the end point of humanity’s sociocultural evolution and the final form of human government. The Cold War was over, the “New World Order” was on, and the future of humanity was bright and peaceful.

It is 2009, and Mr. Fukuyama might as well attempt to write a sequel. At the beginning of 2009, the last twenty years look more like a temporary ceasefire: China has risen as a serious economic (and increasingly, military) player on the world stage. The Russians are more and more openly threatening military response to the planned US anti-missile installations in the Czech Republic and Poland, and now, they are testing the preparedness of NORAD, as is obvious from today’s report about Canadian fighter jets intercepting two Russian military bombers close to Canadian airspace.

Of course, Russia will deny any wrongdoing, like in the old days of Soviet republics. It would be seen as a weakness, and that’s the last thing any good Russian leader (and bureaucrat) wants to show. Instead, Russia will keep posturing, and when caught, it will turn to a proven trick: point its finger at the defender (in this case, Canada): “the statements from Canada’s defence ministry are perplexing to say the least and cannot be called anything other than a farce,” said an unnamed Russian military source.

People from former Czechoslovakia know this trick very well – after all, it was the “counter revolutionary imperialist forces” that threatened to destroy the country, and prompted the Soviet visit in August 1968, lasting almost 22 years. If anyone in the West is willing to give Russia benefit of the doubt, they should look at Russia’s history, its human rights record of recent years, the concentration of power in the hands of few top Russian oligarchs, or Russia’s increased military presence in the Arctic. The conclusion should be that Russia, as always, is testing the West, counting on its preoccupation with internal security and “War on Terror”.

Twenty years on, the tools may have changed, but the goals (and the rhetorics) of the Russian state have changed little: to deny opportunities to Russian people, oppress them with brutal totalitarian policies, and prevent the West from gaining enough political influence that could lead to an actual change in Russia.

With an economic crisis spreading around the globe, nationalist and protections tendencies are sure to be on the rise, and nowhere do they found more fertile ground than in the two largest communist powers: Russia and China (I can hear the objections to the ‘communist’ label, but they both have totalitarian governments any way you slice it). If the two become allied against the West, a Chinese/US trade war, combined with Russian military posturing, may well lead to the resumption of Cold War.

Surely enough material for Mr. Fukuyama to rethink the ‘end of history’. History is alive, and thriving.

Source: ČTK, České Noviny:

Prague – The Czech senior opposition Social Democrats (CSSD) intend to invite former U.S. president Bill Clinton (Democrats) to their congress in March, Petr Dimun, head of the CSSD marketing section, told today’s issue of the daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD).

Bill Clinton’s trip must be approved by the U.S. Department of State headed by his wife Hillary.

Jaroslav Tvrdik (CSSD), who is allegedly in charge of Bill Clinton’s visit, refused to comment on the issue, the daily says.

The CSSD congress to elect a new leadership will continue on March 20-22. Its first part took place on February 14 when the congress changed the party’s statutes to enable indirect elections by the delegates.

MfD writes that Marc Ellenbogen, head of the Prague Society for International Cooperation, helps the CSSD arrange the visit of Bill Clinton, who reportedly plans to go to Europe at the turn of February and March.

Thanks to Ellenbogen’s initiative, retired U.S. general Wesley Clark, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe, spoke on the first day of the CSSD congress on February 14.

MfD adds that speeches by famous personalities such as Clark and Clinton cost some tens up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

However, Ellenbogen told the paper that the CSSD did not have to pay for Clark’s performance and that Clinton, too, would lecture at the congress free of charge.

Bill Clinton occupied the post of U.S. president in 1993-2001.

from The Globe and Mail:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her counterparts from Britain, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Luxembourg said they will push the world’s leading nations to adopt standards that would require banks to save more cash for rainy days, demand more transparency from market participants and allow international authorities to clamp down on tax havens.

That the CBC is a bastion of left-wing, liberal, politically correct journalism is a well-known fact. That the Canadian journalistic elites despise Conservative governments and glow with glee every time the Conservatives get in hot water, is both apparent and understandable. But who exactly does Peter Mansbridge think he is? Karl Marx? (more…)