I'd like to talk a bit about tribalism now. Specifically in terms of the arab state but it applies to a great many others, as well as my opinions as why Europe "won" the race to "dominate" the world. Europe had a great many advantages geographically but they defeated the tribal system and had the ambition to press forward before the other regions of the world. I'd like to cite a specific example of this tribal mindset in action. The pictured man is T.E. Lawrence of Arabia. Lawrence is, in my opinion, one of the most dynamic and astounding individuals of the 20th century. Anything he set his mind to he did. He was told, "That desert is uncrossable" He led 50 men across to their rival tribe and united them against the Ottoman Empire. He served in the first World War and was responsible for the success of the Arab Insurgency in the War. After he led these peoples to victory against all the tribes common enemies, convincing them to hold together to destroy their oppressors and capture Damascus before the "Modern" British Army was able to get there, sure he was freaking crazy at times but he did whatever he set his mind to. And he delivered the City not to his commanding officers in the British Army, but to the Leaders of the Tribes to form an Arab League for a united Islamic Country. And they argued and argued, not getting anything done and they all left to their tribal lands, leaving Damascus behind. While Tribalism will always exist to an extent I am speaking of the small scale. Ethnocentrism is a natural and often unfortunate part of being a human. Tribalism should be reigned in and used as a tool, not be allowed to control us.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete(I'll try to spell everything correctly this time)
ReplyDeleteIronically, the same tribalism that Lawrence used to form the Arabs into a formidable army was what undid the Arab Nation. They were, culturally, not "wired" to form ranks and march on enemies in an orderly, disciplined fashion, as the British and French did. They could not think of casualties as mere statistics, because to them, every fallen man was a brother, a cousin, a good friend, etc. Every single casualty was very personal and loathsome to them. Lawrence saw the key to turning that into their strongest asset: go against policies given by stubborn commanders, and train the Arabs as guerrilla warriors, splitting them into a bunch of small groups, spread them out, and have them cut electric lines, supply lines, train stations, railroad tracks. They became, under Lawrence, an elusive and extremely adaptable opponent, whose very liquid nature made them nearly impossible to effectively counter.
One may well notice that this is exactly the situation today with groups like al-Queda. Fortunately, things like drones and Navy SEALS didn't exist in Lawrence's day, so we may be able to counter the weapon we crafted ... Also doesn't hurt that we've adapted forms of guerrilla warfare into our own formal military.