Allie Kiekhofer Professor Pete Morris Geography 11 31 May 2012 The East is Rising – the Western world’s exposure and reaction to a polycentric reality In The Origins of the Modern World, Robert Marks defines a Eurocentric narrative that falsely portrays the rise of the West in the past 200 years as a miracle that had to happen due to inherent European superiority. Marks notes the falseness of this narrative, arguing that although the West did rise to global prominence in the late 1750s, this rise was “because of global developments that included India, China, and the New World colonies. In other words, the Industrial Revolution was historically contingent on global forces” (Marks 15). Marks also negates the Eurocentric myth that Europe has historically shown superiority to the west of the world and explains the myth’s complete invalidity: the “concept of the rise of the West cannot adequately explain why the West and its institutions became the dominant force in the world over the past 200 years, still less the sustained rise of East Asia over the past four decades, then continued use of [the Eurocentric narrative] does indeed perpetuate a mythology” (Marks 15). The difficulty in successfully introducing non-Eurocentric narratives lies in the fact that the “locus of global wealth and power” (and, in turn, influence) has laid in the hands of Europe and the United States during the past 200 years (Marks 193). Although there is a Eurocentric narrative to be told, the Eurocentric narrative has gone beyond its bounds to eclipse all others and has become the dominant explanation for the events of the 18th-21st centuries. However, the recent rise of several non-European countries to global economic and political influence contradicts provides an unavoidable contradiction to the Eurocentric narrative: how can a Kiekhofer 2 narrative that defines Europe as the dominant global power justify the growing influence of nonEuropean nations and economies? The beginning of what Marks says may be “the beginning of an ‘Asian Century’” will help to oust the Eurocentric narrative as it applies not only to the present but to the past (Marks 194). The growing influence of non-European nations has already presented “Asia as a powerful challenge to European and American hegemony”, and perhaps this hegemony will lead to increased awareness of non-Eurocentric histories (Marks 199). As nonEuropean nations begin to show more and more global influence, the West is exposed to and must accept the polycentric reality that has always been true. The following articles display instances in which the non-Western world has presented challenges to the West and how the West has reacted to these increasingly powerful influences. One of the present challenges to the Western world is the increasing prominence of the Muslim world on the global stage. The recent uprising of rebels in Syria (beginning in March 2011 and continuing to the present) has created a conflict that the West has struggled to deal with. An article from March 3rd, 2012 discussed the Syrian government (led by president Bashar Assad) and its attempt to subdue opposition to the regime. The article examines Assad’s attempt to subdue the Syrian rebels by holding a referendum that would keep Assad in power until 2028. The article says that the vote passed with an 89.9% majority but later states that the voting process was largely faulty and does not reflect the actual amount of support for Assad and his regime. This is evidenced by the recently elevated number of deaths, high numbers of fleeing Syrian refugees, and the heavy amount of troops stationed throughout the country in areas of rebellion. This considerable military involvement, the article states, is the only thing retaining support for Syria’s regime: “Without [the troops in place]—and Mr Assad’s forces appear overstretched after many months of continuous killing—government control vanishes” Kiekhofer 3 (Economist). With the imminent threat of the Syrian regime collapsing completely, the UN is debating military intervention. Some countries have expressed more willingness to intervene than others. While the United States has expressed some willingness (albeit hesitantly) to intervene, both Russia and China have vetoed any such action as part of the UN Security Council. Europe and the United States especially have held past experiments in intervening in Middle Eastern relations. A Eurocentric perspective might argue that the dictatorial leadership common in the Middle East must be replaced via an importation of Western democracy. However, with a lack of success in past attempts to install democracy, the West and especially the United States is rethinking its role as a placater of rebel uprisings. This evidences the perhaps-declining belief that it is a Western duty to convert non-democratic states to democratic ones. Whether or not the UN or the United States ultimately chooses to militarily intervene in the Syrian conflict will be a marker of the global role the West establishes for itself in the coming century. Another moment of tension between West-East relations occurred when a Pakistani doctor, Shakil Afridi, was accused of aiding the CIA in its search for Osama bin Laden which resulted in a US attack and bin Laden’s death last May. An article from Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported that Afridi had been convicted of running a sham anti-polio vaccination campaign. In the process of his campaign, Afridi visited the town of Abbottabad, Pakistan and collected a DNA sample from Osama bin Laden. The United States’ Defense Secretary “confirmed Afridi had worked for US intelligence by collecting DNA to verify bin Laden’s presence” (Dawn). On May 23rd, 2012, Afridi was charged of high treason by the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), was fined over 3 million rupees, and was sentenced to 33 years in a Pakistani prison. The Dawn article reported that Afridi probably avoided the death penalty since Kiekhofer 4 he was convicted by the FCR rather than under Pakistani penal code. The FCR is left over from the British Raj in Pakistan during the late 1800s, and, unlike the Pakistani penal code, does not condone the death penalty in cases of high treason. The case of Shakil Afridi is notable for numerous reasons regarding the lasting Western presence in South Asia and the Middle East. Dr. Afridi has testified that the CIA located him through the international aid agency Save the Children (New York Times). If Afridi’s testimony is verifiable, the CIA will receive serious criticism for using an aid volunteer as an intelligence agent. If true, the United States’ actions have imperialistic overtones: using a volunteer agency as a basis to locate spies for political and military purposes contradicts what was allegedly a purely humanitarian effort. This is especially troubling because the agency used was in Pakistan, a country only involved in the issue to the extent that it geographically contained Osama bin Laden within its borders. Also interesting is the legacy of the British Raj in Pakistan, which worked in Dr. Afridi’s favor: had he not been tried in a court with Western origins, he may have received the death penalty instead of a mere fine and prison sentence (albeit lengthy). Western intervention in Pakistan, then, both led to and partially resolved Dr. Afridi’s current situation. The Afridi matter indicates both the historical remnants of Western colonialism and the continuing desire of the West to involve itself in the East to further military and political incentives. The recent crisis of Chen Guangcheng, a blind Chinese lawyer who escaped from house arrest to the United States embassy in Beijing, has brought to attention questions about the tense dynamic between human rights, diplomacy, and global economic matters. A BBC News article from April 29th, 2012 discussed the now-affirmed rumor that Chen had fled to the United States embassy and speculated about how the issue would be confronted by both the United States and China. BBC News reported that Chen, originally jailed for “disrupting traffic and damaging Kiekhofer 5 property”, had allegedly escaped from house arrest (BBC News). Chen is also known to have been an activist fighting against China’s one-child policy and its ensuing forced abortions and sterilizations. Chen’s escape from house arrest led to the detainment or disappearance of several people known to have aided in his escape. The April 29th article stated Chen’s wish to remain in China and receive only protection from authorities, but Chen later sought and received asylum in the United States. The article compared Chen’s story to that of Fang Lizhi, who sought asylum in the US in 1989 after criticizing the Chinese government during the Tiananmen Square protests. Lizhi remained in the US until his death. The US decision to grant Chen asylum arouses a tension between the United States’ desire to guarantee safety for Chen and its wish to maintain smooth relations with China. The article pointed out that “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [has said] that human rights shouldn’t get in the way of working with China on global challenges” and that the US needed to find a “quiet solution” for Chen (BBC News). The rise of China to its current place as one of the largest economies in the world has led to an increasing economic interdependence between the US and China. Chen’s escape took place days before important talks regarding economics and security were to begin between the US and China. The knowledge that China is a powerful and growing player on the world stage has prevented the US from making the Chen issue into a spectacle of human rights. This shows an at least temporary choice by the US to put economic and security matters above human rights issues, and such a decision signals US reluctance to irritate its vital relationship with an increasingly powerful country. On April 26th, 2012, an international tribunal, the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), convicted former Liberian president Charles Taylor of “arming, supporting and guiding a brutal rebel movement that committed mass atrocities in Sierra Leone during its civil war in the 1990s” Kiekhofer 6 (The New York Times). According to a New York Times article, Taylor, who was originally indicted in 2003, “was found guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, rape, slavery and the use of child soldiers” (New York Times). The article listed in detail numerous other practices in use and damages done during the Sierra Leonean civil war from 1991-2002, and it noted Sierra Leone’s continuing struggle to rebuild its democracy and institutions. Sierra Leone, originally a British colony, was granted independence in 1961 and had a series of turbulent governments until it descended into civil war in the 1990s. Interestingly, the end of the civil war came when British military entered Sierra Leone to subdue the violent activity of the RUF (the Revolutionary United Front—the rebel group Taylor has been convicted of aiding). British historical and present ties to Sierra Leone are indicative of a continued Western trend of intervening in non-Western non-democracies; in Britain's case, this was done first as colonialism and later as international aid. Whether Britain’s colonial rule led to Sierra Leone’s present political turmoil is another complication of the current situation. In another way, the global involvement in the Sierra Leonean conflict is suggestive of progressive world cooperation with regard to human rights (a contrast from the Chen case). On May 30th, the three judges heading Taylor’s case in the SCSL sentenced Taylor to 50 years in a British prison. The three judges were from Ireland, Samoa, and Uganda, and were appointed by Sierra Leone and the United Nations, which partnered to form the SCSL in 2002. This partnership and the conviction of Taylor marked the first time a head of state has been convicted by an international court since the Nuremburg trials of the mid-1940s. The cooperation of UN member nations in these trials provides a hopeful outlook toward future world disputes: instead of a Western power acting unilaterally, the UN General Assembly has successfully equal member representation to solve the conflict. That said, the UN is still an organization founded on Western ideals of Kiekhofer 7 democracy, and whether or not Western nations will Sierra Leone to stand on its own remains to be seen. Either way, the Sierra Leone conflict has become a marker of historical Western expansion and the West’s current debate over whether to attempt to take control of events outside of its sphere. Robert Marks notes the exceedingly temporary nature of the West’s rise to global power, and he emphasizes the importance of understanding the non-West from a non-Western perspective. The four above articles reflect the current state of a transition in the global balance of power away from the West and the United States. During its brief tenure as a global hegemon, the United States involved itself in increasing numbers of global conflicts. As other states rise to prominence, the US seems to be reconsidering its role as the moderator of global conflicts. The world order, now definitively organized (as Marks writes) into a nation-state system, has brought about the question of whether or not a Western-style democracy is a model to be followed even in non-Western regions (Marks 206). The West, with a declining proportion of power on the world stage, is challenged by ever more powerful nations, many of whom do not see democracy as an ideal to be achieved. Whether or not the Western model comes to be the norm is debatable, but the West is already aware that their former expansionist tactics are perhaps not the best way to confront the rest of the world. Kiekhofer 8 Works Cited Khan, Ismail. "Shakil Afridi Sentenced to 33 Years in Treason Case." Dawn. 23 May 2012. Web. 23 May 2012. <http://dawn.com/2012/05/23/shakil-afridi-imprisoned-for-helpingcia-find-bin-laden/>. Marks, Robert B. The Origins of the Modern World: A Global and Ecological Narrative from the Fifteenth to the Twenty-First Century. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. Print. Marsh, Viv. "Chen Guangcheng's Escape Sparks China Round-up." BBC News. BBC, 29 Apr. 2012. Web. 30 Apr. 2012. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-17885372>. Paris., Marlise Simons; Simon Akam Contributed Reporting From Freetown, Sierra Leone, And Richard Berry From. "Ex-President of Liberia Aided War Crimes, Court Rules." The New York Times. The New York Times, 27 Apr. 2012. Web. 27 Apr. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/27/world/africa/charles-taylor-liberia-sierra-leonewar-crimes-court-verdict.html>. "Syria’s Crisis: Into the Meat-grinder." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 03 Mar. 2012. Web. 05 Mar. 2012. <http://www.economist.com/node/21548987>. Walsh, Declan. "Fallout of Bin Laden Raid: Aid Groups in Pakistan Are Suspect." The New York Times. The New York Times, 03 May 2012. Web. 03 May 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/world/asia/bin-laden-raid-fallout-aid-groups-inpakistan-are-suspect.html?pagewanted=all>.
