According to Robert C. Castel, when a small nation goes to war with a large country because of its bad decision, it is like a bicycle colliding with a tractor-trailer.
The security policy expert recently gave an interview to the Democrat . Among other things, Castel was asked about the end of the world and the reasons for the Israeli baby boom, but he also revealed during the conversation why the airplane is the most apt symbol of the modern world.
When asked what he considers to be the three greatest dangers in the world today, the expert replied that "we have forgotten the war.
In the West, we no longer feel a visceral fear of war, especially of nuclear weapons.
I am amazed at how easily some of my analyst colleagues react to certain things, as if they are not aware that small nations cannot make big mistakes," he recalled.
"Getting into a war with a big country because of a bad decision is like a bicycle colliding with a tractor-trailer"
- formulated his analogy.
Secondly, he mentioned the crisis of Western democracy. "It is clearer than ever that we no longer believe in it and are constantly looking for tricks to circumvent the will of the people, and the latter no longer serve as a political argument at all," he pointed out.
Robert C. Castel also emphasized that he considers it a "dangerous" development that "the concepts of power and responsibility are separated from each other.
The responsibility remains in the hands of the elected politicians, but they exercise less and less power".
He named migration as the third problem. The expert believes that "immigration has always existed, but I see the problem in the degree of otherness, and in the fact that you cannot assimilate to a society without identity, that is, to nothing".
The more poles there are, the more uncertain the system is
During the conversation, the topic of the changing world order was also touched upon. Castel noted here that “the more poles there are, the more uncertain the system. We see how America is unable to impose its will on Iran or Russia, or the latter on Ukraine. The middle powers have become relatively stronger, and when they acquire nuclear weapons, the difference between superpowers and middle powers will quickly blur," he underlined.
He then added, "I'm not saying it's going to be a good world, but we're moving in that direction.
If Ukraine had nuclear weapons, they would not be attacked.
And the losing Ukraine may revert to primitiveness and fall back to the level of tribes and rite communities, like Lebanon. (…) If there is no nation, then there is Lebanon".
Finally, Robert C. Castel concluded that "unfortunately, I see that instead of the Middle East becoming Europe, Europe is beginning to become the Middle East."
Featured image: MTI/Zsolt Szigetváry
