Future: Tense
On a lazy weekend one’s thoughts should turn to chores that need to be done. Notice I say “should”. But on this lazy weekend I’m curled up with geopolitics and a rereading of this book.
Dyer, Gwynne. 2004. Future: Tense; The Coming World Order. McClelland & Stewart Ltd. ISBN 0771029780.
What I liked about this book:This book should be seen as a counter point to Colossus by Niall Ferguson. While the premise in Colossus is that America should willingly take on the mantle of empire and global policeman, Future: Tense: argues that such action is a return to large international power blocs like we had prior to the First World War. By acting unilaterally and by ridiculing established international structures, America is planting the seeds for a return to imperial power blocs.
Dyer outlines the various influences in today’s political climate that are working to create a crisis in international cooperation. The Islamicists who are trying to goad the USA into a hopeless conflict like the Soviets in Afghanistan. The American Neo-Conservatives looking for a sovereign state to invade contrary to establish international law to demonstrate the policy of Pax Americana. Both groups absolute adversaries. Both groups feeding on each other, and in the failure of the international order, power blocs forming in Europe, China, and India. It’s the good old, bad old days, of fingers on the buttons again.
What I disliked about this book: My inability to get Gwynne Dyer’s voice out of my head while reading him. Anyone who has watched him on the CBC or in his documentary film and book War will know what I’m talking about. One of the best parts of his writing is listening to him speak it in his own words. The effect is a little haunting while reading him in the comfort of your own home.
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