The forest for the trees

It’s time to consider another 1815 style Congress of Vienna…for the third world.

Said another way, present day borders in the third world often reflect colonial and empire imposed boundaries that often ignored historical tribal frictions. Many of today’s 100+ wars in the third world are the result. These tend to be small wars, and can be either internal to a nation-state, or external between nation-states. Some have become genocide.

The forest for the trees idea implies many leaders are so involved in the details of a problem that they can fail to see the situation as a whole. An American example is: “The congressman became so involved in the wording of his bill that he couldn’t see the forest for the trees; he did not realize that the bill could never pass.”

Before one shoots this idea down do to the difficulty, let us proceed further on the idea.

Many of today’s third world boundaries clearly were drawn by colonial administrators; or Russian, Ottoman, and British empire diplomats. The histories of such map making includes those who did it in offices using existing paper maps. Considerations of races, religions, cultures, politics, and tribal affiliations and animosities tended to be ignored on these maps. During the period after WWII, many of these colonial boundaries remained in place. Russian, Ottoman, and British boundaries were also quickly supported.

One should consider the idea of a nation-state as an idea, not an historical given. After all the idea is just that. It is a western construct that became a way to organize and maintain the status quo. In the same way, one must consider the idea of a “failed nation-state” as one which no longer meets the standards of the western construct, and not some historically established state with hundreds or more years of history.

Perhaps the third world nation-states are the trees in a forest of humanity’s small wars.

Much as the Congress of Vienna was an assembly of volunteers, any such future equivalent must be much the same. Continental or regional based efforts make more sense than some World approach. And such assemblies’ results cannot be dictated since any such method requires enforcement efforts beyond any voluntary enforcement efforts.

The difficulties of having a third world set of Congress of Vienna assemblies are enormous. If the difficulties are such that they never happen, then so be it. Or if such assemblies maintain the present boundaries, so be it. If some succeed, and some fail, so be it.

At least we will have moved past the boundaries of the colonial times, and those of past empires.