Principles

In the book, I offered two possible solutions for the conflict between Israel and Palestine.  One possibility I suggested was the complete social and political unification of the entire territory of Israel and Palestine; and the other was the much vaunted “Two State Solution.”

The present military action in the Gaza Strip has forced me to spend some time evaluating my position and as a result I no longer consider one of those ideas to be a viable possibility.

Not A Solution

The “Two State Solution” is not a solution at all. 

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I received feedback from a reader named Ryan C. that deserves a response.

Ryan stated that he thought the principle I upheld in my discussion of the situation in Palestine conflicted with the principle which I promoted in my discussion of the situation in Tibet.
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In Principles for a Self-Directed Society Chapter 3 "Creating a Lasting Peace," I advocate a revised vision of the role of United Nations peacekeeping forces. There and elsewhere I maintain that the United States is not an appropriate arbiter of international disputes: such conflict resolution is solely the responsibility of the United Nations. To this end I advocate a strategy under which, in times of ongoing strife, U.N. forces should be empowered to intervene, using lethal force when necessary; not in support of any particular faction, but simply to do their best to prevent any continuation of the violence. I developed this position as a response to the horror I have felt at the unchecked genocides which have taken place in recent history and which are ongoing in Sudan. The world community’s shameful failure to respond to such terrible incidents calls into question the very notion that we are indeed a "civilized" society.

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Just briefly: in chapter 3 of Principles for a Self-Directed Society I state, as many others have, that the war in Iraq has strengthened our enemies and increased terrorism worldwide, and that our continued occupation of Iraq can only cause continuing instability there.

Last week it became apparent that the Iraqi government has reached the same conclusion. In order to make our occupation "legal," the elected Iraqi leadership must pass new status of forces legislation essentially inviting us to stay before the United Nations Security Council extension of the mandate of multinational forces expires on December 31, 2008.

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In section 4.2.1 of Principles for a Self-Directed Society, I summarize some of the effects and implications of global climate change, including the 2007/08 United Nations Human Development Report, which concluded that more than 260 million people were adversely affected by climate change related disasters in the first four years of the 21st century alone; and that the only way to prevent long term exponential worsening of the situation is for industrialized nations to make painfully drastic reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions. I then considered an extreme worst-case climate change scenario report, written by private contractors for the Department of Defense. However, that report has been disavowed by the Pentagon; and although it is scientifically not unimaginable, as the report demonstrates with several examples of historical climatological events, most people find the concept of abrupt climate shift to be too much like science fiction, and hopefully it will stay that way.
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