{"id":51003,"date":"2021-01-29T15:46:34","date_gmt":"2021-01-29T12:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/almortaja.com\/?p=51003"},"modified":"2021-05-01T18:52:38","modified_gmt":"2021-05-01T14:22:38","slug":"the-ontology-of-violence-in-western-foreign-policy-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/almortaja.com\/en\/ontology-violence-western-foreign-policy\/the-ontology-of-violence-in-western-foreign-policy-3\/","title":{"rendered":"(The \u201cOntology of Violence\u201d in Western Foreign Policy (3"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/a>By Thomas Finger<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

III.) The \u201cOntology of Violence\u201d and Western Foreign Policy<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

From the 17th century to the present, however, western people have frequently been uncomfortable with the brutal, stark features of the Ontology of Violence. Consequently, they have often de-emphasized these features and emphasized the optimistic side of the \u201cEnlightenment\u201d view: that humans are basically rational creatures, and that scientific progress is leading to world-wide moral and social progress. Western people want to believe that their dominant position over other peoples does not vicitimize them, but brings them the benefits of progress.<\/p>\n

Examined more closely, his \u201cEnlightenment\u201d view, combines three different understandings of history. First is the Christian, and Abrahamic, vision of God guiding the nations towards a future when they all will be blessed. But this vision, second, is secularized: reason, science and human progress guide this process, instead of revelation, religions and God. Third, this view is militarized; it took over the old Roman concept that a superior western civilization with overwhelming military superiority would bring these benefits to other nations. This third strand connected Enlightenment optimism with the more pessimistic Ontology of Violence.<\/p>\n

In the late 19th century, despite the influence of Darwinism, many western leaders highlighted the more optimistic side. They believed that humans had become too enlightened to settle their differences by war, but could now resolve them in more mature ways.\u00a0 Prior to both World War I and World War II, when some countries threatened to wage war, these leaders sought to deter them by moral and rational persuasion, and avoided strong threats of force. But when rulers like Adolf Hitler ignored these attempts, and when both wars led to unimaginable destruction, many western governments concluded that more \u201crealistic\u201d foreign policies were needed.<\/p>\n

During the \u201cCold War\u201d that followed World War II, many western powers retrieved the Ontology of Violence, and insisted that every nation seeks to increase its power against other nations. This meant that the best international situation possible was not genuine harmony among all people\u2014 for that was impossible– but a \u201cbalance of power\u201d in which opposing nations were so nearly equal in strength that none would dare to attack the others. Many western political theorists believed that a \u201cbipolar\u201d world situation, where only two major powers existed, would be the safest for everyone. For the more \u201cpoles,\u201d or groups of hostile nations, there were, the greater would be the possibilities of war.<\/p>\n

During the bi-polar Cold War, Westerners usually attributed the negative features of the Ontology of Violence\u2014 the unlimited drive for power and control over others without moral scruples\u2014 to the Soviet Union and its allies. But Westerners identified the positive side of the Enlightenment view\u2014 progress of towards greater prosperity, peace, and justice for everyone\u2014 with themselves. This produced a \u201cblack and white\u201d view of the world: since the Communist bloc was wholly evil, the West, which opposed it, was thoroughly good.<\/p>\n

The fall of most Communist countries around 1990 left the United States as the world\u2019s strongest power by far.\u00a0 Now that the conflictual \u201cbi-polar\u201d world had vanished, many Americans thought it was time to reduce their military forces sharply, to seek \u201cmultilateral\u201d relationships with other countries, and to treat potential enemies in less threatening ways.\u00a0 But while some movement in these directions began during the Clinton presidency (1992-2000), the Ontology of Violence, revised in the form of \u201cNeoconservatism,\u201d regained its dominance with George W. Bush. Like Cold War realism, Neoonservatism seeks to blend this pessimistic Ontology with Enlightenment optimism.<\/p>\n

According to Neoonservatives, America has a special mission: to spread Enlightenment ideals\u2014 like freedom, democracy and prosperity\u2014 through the world.\u00a0 Yet international relations, in this theory, are still governed by those violent, totalitarian quests for power which were formerly concentrated in the Communist world. These forces have dispersed, and have reappeared in anti-democracy movements around the globe. This means the world will remain relatively stable only if the leading democratic nation opposes these movements wherever they operate. But if America is to meet this challenge, it cannot decrease its military budget\u2014 even though it has no enemy of comparable power\u2014 but must actually increase it.<\/p>\n

According to Neoconservatives, America\u2019s military might must be overwhelmingly superior, and must constantly be uprgraded. And to move quickly around the globe, the United States must be able to act unilaterally. It cannot be slowed down by alliances with other countries, international treaties, or the United Nations.\u00a0 Moreover, since international relations are still governed by the Ontology of Violence, the United States can\u2014 and must\u2014 follow its principles: must acquire and maintain as much power as it can.<\/p>\n

Neoconservatism promotes a \u201cunipolar\u201d view of the world. One unconquerable nation, with occasional help from its allies, imposes \u201cpeace\u201d on the other countries\u2014 not peace in the sense of deep harmony and friendship among nations, but a peace imposed by violence and threats of violence, and hopefully accompanied by the spread of Enlightenment ideals. But even if the world becomes more Enlightened, violence will always be \u201contological:\u201d intrinsic to human nature and society.<\/p>\n

IV.) A Christian Alternative<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Although the Ontology of Violence arose in a society that called itself Christian, and is promoted today by many people who claim that name, several main differences between it and authentic Christianity should be clear. This Ontology includes a vision of progress towards international harmony and well-being, which it derived from Christian and Abrahamic origins. However, humanity is guided towards it by reason, science and human effort, not by God. Moreover, since nations are driven by desires for power, possessions and security, they cannot reach this goal through increasing co-operation. They must be led, instead, by a western people with overwhelming violent power and innumerable possessions\u2014 a notion inherited from the Roman Empire.<\/p>\n

But if this Ontology of Violence cannot really lead to the fullness of blessing promised to Abraham, can I suggest a more promising way? I will do so by referring briefly to the ultimate source of Christian social theology, the teachings of Jesus.<\/p>\n

A.) \u201cLove Your Enemies,\u201d \u201cTurn the Other Cheek.\u201d These sayings, most people think, teach a totally passive approach to violence:<\/p>\n

that if someone abuses you, or abuses other people, just let them do it. But to grasp their true meaning, let us consider a parallel saying which teaches much the same thing: \u201cif anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus was speaking mainly to Jews, most of them peasants, who were heavily oppressed by the Romans. Who could force a Jew \u201cto go one mile?\u201d A Roman solider could command one of them to carry his heavy pack that far\u2014 but no further.<\/p>\n

How might a soldier respond, then, if a Jew, probably tired already from the first mile, began to walk another mile? The soldier could hardly consider this a passive response, for the Jew was doing it voluntarily. Most likely the soldier, in some confused way, would perceive it as an act of kindness by someone to whom he had shown no kindness. The soldier might come to see the Jew as a real fellow human being, trying to do something for him which he did not deserve. Perhaps he would realize how harsh and impersonal his command, to carry the pack, had been\u2014 and to realize that Romans usually spoke to their subjects like this..<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 parallel teachings\u2014 if someone strikes you turn the other cheek; if someone takes your coat, give him you cloak (Matthew 5:39-40)\u2014 also encourage not passive, but creative, unexpected responses to violence.<\/p>\n

\u00a0These teachings picture two enemies: one is the oppressor, the other is oppressed. But when the oppressed persons do something unexpected for their oppressors, they are not accepting their oppressed status; they are rejecting it by doing what they choose to do. And by these same acts, they cease to define the other as an enemy. This opens the possibility that the two might begin to relate quite differently.<\/p>\n

Also read this article:<\/p>\n

(The \u201cOntology of Violence\u201d in Western Foreign Policy(2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Thomas Finger III.) The \u201cOntology of Violence\u201d and Western Foreign Policy From the 17th century to the present, however, western people have frequently been uncomfortable with the brutal, stark features of the Ontology of Violence. Consequently, they have often de-emphasized these features and emphasized the optimistic side of the \u201cEnlightenment\u201d view: that humans are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":51004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[390],"tags":[638,635,636,632,637,634],"yoast_head":"\n(The \u201cOntology of Violence\u201d in Western Foreign Policy (3 - \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0631\u062a\u062c\u06cc \u0645\u0648\u0642\u0639 \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0647\u062f\u0648\u06cc\u0629 \u0644\u0645\u0639\u0631\u0641\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u0627\u0645\u0627\u0645 \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0647\u062f\u06cc<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Love Your Enemies,\u201d \u201cTurn the Other Cheek.\u201d These sayings, most people think, teach a totally passive approach to violence:\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/almortaja.com\/en\/ontology-violence-western-foreign-policy\/the-ontology-of-violence-in-western-foreign-policy-3\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"(The \u201cOntology of Violence\u201d in Western Foreign Policy (3 - 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