The Possibilities for Anarchy (I)

Written by Angelique van Engelen


When organising a country or a group of people in need of structuring, people tend to automatically sidestep ideologies that do not take authority imposed from above for granted.

Anarchists and other proponents of alternative rule almost by definition are seen as destructive elements in a society. Yet old time and modern thinkers onrepparttar subject might have some viable and decent ideas for future state organisation.

The unwieldy mess calledrepparttar 136199 internet gives rise to many new thoughts and also causes many people to revisit older ideals andrepparttar 136200 alternative scene is resultantly more vibrant than ever. Its frequent intersection withrepparttar 136201 mainstream only adds torepparttar 136202 clout of its substance. Going about researchingrepparttar 136203 possibilities for anarchy as a viable alternative to a current system of government ought to be as chaotic as we can make it if we want to keep in line withrepparttar 136204 subject's concept. But we need to keep in mind that whilst we're digging,repparttar 136205 results are streamlined by algorithms.

Surfingrepparttar 136206 web and drawing 'chaotically' fromrepparttar 136207 input of various disciplines on anarchy throws off quite interesting results. Taking anarchy at face value, you realise soon your hunch as to why it has such a negative connotation is right. To be fair, situations in which anarchy gets bad press, are almost invariably justified. Not only do anarchists rear often ugly heads when they have issues with incumbent governments that tie them together as an impromptu group of people for short stretches of times only, with a negative spirit as a combining agent, seemingly too weak to justifyrepparttar 136208 action. They often continue to destroy forrepparttar 136209 sake of destruction only.

Anarchy and regime change go hand in hand. Most ofrepparttar 136210 times that anarchists are seen 'live' in action, they are -true torepparttar 136211 nature of their political inclination- not organised in any way and they generally serve only to achieve short term goals before they go back to their ordinary lives. Anarchists can have very justified opinions, but in many cases their action is nevertheless condemned byrepparttar 136212 majority of fellow country men in favor of a new organised government.

The situation in Kyrgyzstan duringrepparttar 136213 onset ofrepparttar 136214 American invasion most recently broughtrepparttar 136215 topic to bear for renewed analysis and prior to that,repparttar 136216 Iraq invasion by American troops yielded fresh material for students of international law to break their heads over in years to come.

Due torepparttar 136217 rather short term nature of anarchy when it is a 'live' concept, there is a lot of obscurity around how systems based on no rule or anarchy would be able to function in a positive way. There is no area or country inrepparttar 136218 world that has seen a situation of anarchy through for more than a decade by choice. Yet this does not mean thatrepparttar 136219 concept is not pondered by more selfrespecting scholars of all disciplines. A quick browse onrepparttar 136220 internet reveals tons of information.

The concepts that would create true anarchic systems as mature alternatives for governments are somewhat more decent than you would hope or expect, depending on your notion of adventure or distaste for your current government. By definition, anarchists oppose merely government, not order or society. "Liberty isrepparttar 136221 Mother, notrepparttar 136222 Daughter of Order" wrote Proudhon, and most self respecting thinkers pondering anarchic ideals agree. Kropotkin, put it, "No destruction ofrepparttar 136223 existing order is possible, if atrepparttar 136224 time ofrepparttar 136225 overthrow, or ofrepparttar 136226 struggle leading torepparttar 136227 overthrow,repparttar 136228 idea of what is to takerepparttar 136229 place of what is to be destroyed is not always present inrepparttar 136230 mind. Evenrepparttar 136231 theoretical criticism ofrepparttar 136232 existing conditions is impossible, unlessrepparttar 136233 critic has in mind a more or less distinct picture of what he would have in place ofrepparttar 136234 existing state. Consciously or unconsciously,repparttar 136235 ideal,repparttar 136236 conception of something better is forming inrepparttar 136237 mind of everyone who criticizes social institutions."

Former Terrorrists Getting into Government need Time, not God on their Side

Written by Angelique van Engelen


Today, in many countries' political realities, tribalist and nationalist or globalist forces clash fiercely, undermining chances of peace and democracy. This is particularly topical inrepparttar Middle East, where efforts by established leaderships to discourage armed conflict have reached a new phase, in which both Hezbollah and Hamas, organizations labeled 'terrorist' byrepparttar 136198 US, are nudged to start thinking about participation in mainstream politics.

The number of countries inrepparttar 136199 world atrepparttar 136200 moment that are in some form of transition is higher than some ten years ago, and in some ways more efforts are made to resolve situations that threaten stability. Andrepparttar 136201 moves of all involved parties are not without major-league risks.

By finally addressing security issues by making a clean sweepthrough,repparttar 136202 Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is slowly shifting into gear, startingrepparttar 136203 clampdown on Palestinian insurgency that has long been called for. he has even told Hamas fighters publicly to give up their arms, This was a first forrepparttar 136204 president who until now has been anything but clear on security issues. The Hamas leaders according to a report inrepparttar 136205 London Asharq Al Awsat paper are reportedly planning to return to Gaza afterrepparttar 136206 Israelis have withdrawn.

The newspaper report detailed thatrepparttar 136207 leaders are likely to move their group's political bureau to Gaza as soon as Israel transfers control overrepparttar 136208 border crossings torepparttar 136209 Palestinian Authority. "When a militia turns into a political party, I believerepparttar 136210 issue of a need for arms becomes irrelevant," Abbas was quoted as saying. "There will be only one authority, one law and one legal [armed force]," according torepparttar 136211 recently elected Palestinian leader, who played downrepparttar 136212 risks involved inrepparttar 136213 operation, saying that this has happened many times before in history.

Hamas leaders however deemed it necessary to reiterate that they have no intention of disarming at all. "Our fingers will remain onrepparttar 136214 rifle triggers untilrepparttar 136215 removal ofrepparttar 136216 occupation," Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri said, according torepparttar 136217 Israeli Al Haaretz paper. Even though Hamas has participated inrepparttar 136218 elections recently, Masri doubted that this meansrepparttar 136219 members are actually going to function as such.

It is remarks like these that worryrepparttar 136220 international community very much. US President George W. Bush has been said to be waiting with invitingrepparttar 136221 Palestianian leader Abbas until he has got something of substance to report. Perhaps an invitation will finally be extended soon now. The Palestinian leader has installed a hardliner as new intelligence chief. Tareq Abu Rajab, who used to be deputy intelligence chief, is known to have played an important role in a crackdown onrepparttar 136222 militant group Hamas.

Hamas, which has participated in municipal elections already, might see next July's municipal elections turn out in its favor. "Extrapolating fromrepparttar 136223 present point in time, Hamas I believe would gain between 30 and 50 percent inrepparttar 136224 elections torepparttar 136225 Palestinian Legislative Council in July. Fateh is in total disarray and is searching for its lost identity", said Matti Steinberg, an Israeli former security advisor to two heads ofrepparttar 136226 Israel General Security Service. "Hamas could register considerable gains in elections and possibly demand to play a role inrepparttar 136227 next Palestinian Authority government", according to Yossi Alpher, a former senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. The gains thatrepparttar 136228 'party to be' is likely to win are largely due to unhappiness ofrepparttar 136229 Palestine population withrepparttar 136230 Fateh party, which has lost its identity more or less due to dysfunctioning ofrepparttar 136231 PA.

This is echoed by Ghassan Khattib,repparttar 136232 Palestinian Authority minister of planning. "It is possible that Hamas, which so far maintains a fundamentalist ideological and extreme political position, will become a pragmatic movement if it hasrepparttar 136233 chance to be part of official politics, locally, regionally and internationally. The rhetoric of Hamas now reminds many of Fateh's rhetoric when it was treated byrepparttar 136234 "legitimate powers" as an "illegal terrorist group". Fateh successfully worked out a trade-off. It was recognized and included inrepparttar 136235 system in return for playing politics withinrepparttar 136236 parameters of international legality", he says.

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