While I believe most on here oppose state aggression, especially war, for a long time there’s been a general equilibrium or balance of power among states. Yes, the U.S. has been more active over the past decade or so in trying to tip the scales, but in general states have kept to the status quo for the most part. It’s been more like a country club of aggressors where a few get kicked out of the club when they get too far out of line or fall out of favor with the nations who hold the most power.
Enter the present series of events, in particular the collapse of any resemblance of leadership in the Lybian aggression (authorized by the UN, of course). Not sure I’ve seen this much bungling in a very long time. States are even to the point of threatening to pull out (Germany) or take over the bases of their allies within their country (Italy). It’s pretty embarassing even for those pro-war folks. This goes beyond the normal misbehavior attributed by states.
What I have to wonder is will some of the more aggressive states attempt to take advantage of the disorganization and utter incompetency of their fellow aggressors? It would appear that some could act without impunity, and seize territories, property and people just about anywhere. Bad times for the individual.
As the more aggressive states begin to act, it would only be natural for others to get a piece of the action. The state’s mishandling of their economic situations would be one of many excuses to proliferate their aggression beyond their borders, or against their own people (trading subtle aggression for violent aggression).
Now in the long view, I think states fall in on their own incompetency. In that process, there’s a lot of turmoil depending on how hard they fight to retain their power. So are we witnessing the early steps of this process?