Interesting Times

Jerry Pournelle makes the argument that we have crossed over a political and cultural threshold in the modern world, such that sovereignty is now determined by ownership of nuclear weapons.* It's an extension of the old axiom, "might makes right." I'm not sure I agree with him, but he makes an interesting argument. To wit:

Gaddafi has not sovereignty. He has an army but no nukes.

The interesting part is that current events are (once again) invalidating the principle of "natural law," from which -- as Dr Pournelle points out -- so-called International Law is derived. It's not a good sign, especially not with our current leadership, or lack thereof, here in the United States.

It's a truism that the rules are always changing. The key is to live when the rules are relatively stable, and therefore live long and in peace. I'm afraid we're getting caught up in a major rules shift in the 21st century. Or as some unknown Chinese sage is rumored to have said, "May you be cursed to live in interesting times."

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* - An interesting literary sidenote is the fact that Frank Herbert wrote his seminal work, Dune, based upon this very principle. The best sci-fi writers are very often something like prophets -- sans all the religious gobbledygook and indecipherable language.