Tariq Ali Quotes
Germany is a capitalist state nurtured carefully and brought back to prosperity by the United States, and it is very loyal to the United States. I don't even think the Germans enjoy full sovereignty. There are some things which they cannot do if the United States doesn't wish them to do it.
Ali, Tariq. Interview by C.J. Polychroniou. "Tariq Ali: The EU Is a Banker's Union." Truthout, 4 Aug. 2015.
Referring to the poor international reputation that America developed in the early 21st Century as a result of the Iraq War.
This is the kind of threat that was used by Germany before the First World War. It worked with Turkey, but King Albert realized that being an “ally” of Germany meant losing independence anyway. Belgium would not join Germany, so the Germans invaded Belgium in 1914. Belgians fought with the allies and at the end of WWI, they were able to rebuild their independent state and thrive until they were again invaded by Germany in WWII. Turkey, in contrast, lost their entire empire, as a result of their fighting as German allies in WWI.
He was not attributing this to any particular polices or the United States. The U. S. had the so large and was such a force on so many areas that most things the U. S. did would potentially affect every oither nation in the world. There was almost no situation in the world in which the U, S, position and extent of invlovement would not affect the countires involved. At the same time the rapidly accelerating technological change that is changine everything is being led by United States scientists, technologists, and corporations. So if technological change was destabilizing which it was in most societies including America's the United States was the driver. And then, the Presidential election victory of Donald Trump, who had a a stated practice being inconsistant on many things, of aggressivly looking for new ways of doing things in American politics (and had been an exemplar during the campaign), and a strong reluctance to have broad general policies that woild guide his policies and intentions. American politics was changing more than usual with both major political parties were going through major reinvntions and struggles to define themselves. The United States was, moreso than any other country, culturally used to rapid change througout the society and still thriving. But for most other cultures, these things all together could determine the perception of stability and the lac k thereof in most of the world. But even the methods of dealing with climate change which is a source of anxiety for most nations, realsitically depends on what the United States will do or not do and that lack of certainty or even liklihood to prediuct affects people the world over.
Tariq Ali is a British political activist, writer, journalist, historian, filmmaker, and public intellectual. He is a member of the editorial committee of the New Left Review and Sin Permiso, and contributes to The Guardian, CounterPunch, and the London Review of Books. He read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Exeter College, Oxford.
