If Western leaders want peace, they must accept that there is only one international law that condemns aggression wherever it comes from, that they give authority to the United Nations and that they redraw Israel’s borders to allow the birth of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Lahouari Addi *
By defending itself, Iran is violating international law, but Israel and the United States, by attacking Iran, are defending international law. Are there two international rights or just one? It seems that there are two. One which justifies aggression and the other which prohibits self-defense. This myopia which makes people see double is in fact a pathological consequence of racism.
As yesterday in the colonies where the natives were not legal subjects, today in the international community, there are sovereign States and semi-sovereign States. In this case, two UNs will be needed: that of the West and that of the potential victims of the West.
Neocolonial conception of international relations
In Washington, Berlin, London, Paris…, the law is not considered universal, and must be limited to the West. The geopolitical colonial order collapsed in the 1950s and 1960s, but it persists in the practice of Western leaders in the form of a neocolonial conception of international relations.
What makes the American political class, and those subordinate to it in Europe, nervous is that American hegemony is contested and sometimes effectively. The world order based on the invincibility of aircraft carriers is outdated. A $10,000 drone can take out a $3 billion aircraft carrier.
Furthermore, economic globalization has at least one advantage: the world capitalist market does not like war. This is what Iran understood by closing the Strait of Hormuz. In addition to its army, Tehran is protected by the stock exchanges of Wall Street, Frankfurt, London, Paris…
Trump’s inconsistent remarks, sometimes declaring that the war is over, and other times that he can raze Iran, reveal his fear of seeing the price of oil soar to $150. With this price, the Republicans will lose both the Senate and the House.
Foreign wars and internal politics
Foreign wars are no longer foreign policy events. They are now part of domestic policies, because people, including the American people, are against wars of aggression.
If Western leaders want peace, they must accept that there is only one international law that condemns aggression wherever it comes from, that they give authority to the United Nations and that they redraw Israel’s borders to allow the birth of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. The postcolonial world order cannot be managed with a neocolonial mentality.
* Professor at the Institute of Political Studies at the University of Lyon.
