2006-08-01

When people roll out maps, you know you are in trouble... here is a perfect example not only of that but also of the intellectual brilliance of such an idea. A recent article of the Armed Forces Journal called "Blood borders. How a better Middle East would look" proposed a new map for the Middle East (no, I am not a regular reader o fthe Armed Forces Journal, I came accross it thanks to Carl Bildt's Blog).
This map (the article discloses the mind-set of the author: 'Oh, and one other dirty little secret from 5,000 years of history: Ethnic cleansing works'.).
has such great ideas such as Greater Lebanon (in fact todays Lebanon is already Greater Lebanon), Greater Jordan (making a functional state even more functional), Saudi Homelands Independent Territories (the term homeland is particularly well chosen).
There is really only one map in recent years which has proposed some decent borders, and is based on more serious research than the above:

8 comments:

""#$ said...

But, actually in the U.S, or their military forces or the political leadership ,they do think that such a "thing" could be implemented?
That turkey would accept losing such amount of territory? Or Yemen and Azerbaijan?
And at the same time , creating a much more stronger Iran, with buffer states all around?
Free Baluchistan - what the hell is that?
Free from what? free from the stupidity of the creators of such map?
And at the same time creating - the idea of creating an "Islamic sacred state" a Vatican 2, but filled with Muslims????
Inside from what hole or black abyss came the people who thought of this?
Are they ,actually paid to "imagine" such lunatic conception of diplomacy and re-shaping borders???
Even for the patterns of neo cons, this is the ultimate stupidity.
Mas in the united states are there people who actually think that this??? is a viable map?
listen ... Florian, don´t call "author"to the moron who propose ...this.
My cat has better knowledge of international politics than the imbecile who devised this.
it looks like a map from the PC game "civilization".
Are you sure that it wasn´t taken from the game?

""#$ said...

After going to Carl bildt´s blog and reading the article of the idiot who wrote it, i can only say that the Americans are starting to became demential.

The man mixes faith and religion, with soft acceptance of ethnic cleansing, as being a "good thing" (like the Nazis ,after all did) and at the same time sells the hocus-pocus of pseudo strategy e redefinition of borders, being the new ones - the divine ones - to be the magnificent contribution of the united states to the world and the peace.

American vanity mingled with American ignorance and a profound lust for power and recognition.
And historical ignorance to go along.

But, does anyone believe that a state of that area should embrace gladly the perspective of being divided?
Dividing iraq in 3 parts?
What a stupidity.
And create Kurdistan just because, says the author/moron it will constitute a pro western state?
Merchants of stupidity , the current state of mind of the Americans.

But always selling bullshit to the world.
After the sell, Americans became surprised that a lot of people dislike them.
No wonder.
With such ideas as this one - this "map of the black abyss of moron strategists from the USA" problems are, definitively,placed ahead.

The world is a dangerous place.
Specially when pieces of crap disguises as persons publish a map such as that one.
Unbelievable...

DarkoV said...

Eric,
Maybe Roz Chast (if that is the New Yorker cartoonist who did the cover) was in the National Guard and that New Middle East map was her weekend contribution? I hope that was the case; if not Mr. Pedro Silva should be going to see his doctor. He may burst a blood vessel looking at that map.

By the way, when you were over in Beograd, did you have a chance to get down to the coast at all? Just a bit of the Jadran on your toes prior to heading back stateside?

Eric Gordy said...

I'm afraid my pleasure travel was kind of limited this year. When the rest of the family went to Brac (we spend some time at a friend's house every year) I had to give a lecture in Vienna. But then the family hooked up again in Ljubljana, and we took a few days to go through Istra. I managed to get myself into the water at one point (preferred the inland of Istra, though -- can only take so much crowded bathing beach), before heading off to the Limski kanal for oysters, followed by more oysters. For next year, we are thinking of a visit to the Albanian coast.

Katja R. said...

So...Who needs to be ethnically cleansed to make this work? That is the question few are asking, the other that no one has considered is that The Ottoman Empire Will Rise Again!

osgiq is today's nasty nasty nasty Klingon swearword I don't even want to translate it!

""#$ said...

Darkov:
i was containing myself when i write what i wrote.
The mere fact that someone "authorized " the idiot that wrote that crap and, at the same time, published the map, is sufficient to trouble anyone.
It´s not by accident...

The mere fact that one single American, actually think that such a map could be implemented only represents the defeat of sane thought in America.

And,at the same time, the dimension of huge ignorance, and being completely on mars regarding the middle east and adjacency's.

I live in Portugal and despite all our own flaws as a country, we don´t get the news by fox news or CNN, conveniently filtered such as the American public does......

Despite the average ignorance in Portugal, even the "street man" when confronted with such ideas(something like the map) becomes horrified ...
The immense stupidity of those ideas (the map and the correspondent text) is astonishing...

Specially because it looks like it´s presenting itself as "educated academic study or essay" but is nothing more than stupidity".
Ultra stupidity. Mega stupidity.
But ... are the Americans thinking ????

Even by the standards of neo cons or similars those ideas are completely ludicrous...

Next what?
An article stating that dividing Jamaica in 24 or 37 zones is a good thing?

Or an article stating the obligation of all persons of Alaska to start talking Swedish- becoming the new official language of the state is a good thing and should be implemented?

But were to this people came?
What assembly line produces this king of American idiots who write ignorant things like that?

Don´t even want to know the "low image", the bad image that Americans have right now in Europe...

DarkoV said...

Pedro Silva,
I understand your concern and your justified upset. I was most certainly not trying to out a light air on the matters that you were discussing. It is certainly a cause for concern when something like this comes up, but, personally, I let this stuff roll over me. Remember how the Brits initially put Iran, Iraq, Israel, Palestine etc. together back in the aelry part of the 1900's. And let's not get into how Yugoslavia was constructed after both World Wars. It's always been the vision of the few dominating the residence of the many.

""#$ said...

Darkov: of course one should let things like that roll over...

Bu at the same time the idea of such a map is so astonishingly idiot...that one becomes ...completely ..dazzled... by it...