New World Order?

In My Humble Opinion
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This started when, in an effort to learn more about the state of international politics today, I watched a panel of 6 UC Berkeley Professors discuss the implications of War in Iraq.

One of the panel members, Steven Weber, political science, in his presentation, mentioned the concept of a coalition for a new world order.

Now, to my (admittedly sci-fi readin, conspiracy-lovin, X-Files watchin) brain, just the words “new world order” uttered in a discussion on international policies, kinda made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end till it sank in that it wasn’t that kind of New World Order. Well, at least I sure hoped it wasn’t. :dubious: I have a tendency to dwell on, think about, and in general, pick at like a sore tooth, things that for some odd reason gave me the heebie-jeebies in a purely X-Files Lone Gunmen kind of way.

I decided to settle one of the more insistent voices telling me “just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re NOT really out to get you!”, opened a fresh browser and went googling.

“new world order international politics” ('cause I obviously didn’t want the true sci-fi stuff) pulled up several interesting links ( this was one of the most interesting ), and I learned that in fact, it’s a seemingly not-uncommon term used in the context of international standings in the world (be patient with me, I’m waking up at 31, after a decade of apathetic 20-somethingedness).

whew See, self? I told you those other voices were leading you on! Ok, ok, shut up…as long as we’re here, we might as well learn some more, and maybe a couple more of you will shut up once in a while too…
But then again, I’ve been hearing and reading quite a number of people expressing the opinion that the War In Iraq would be the first of many, couched in the terms of the War on Terrorism for now, but after that? Is the impossible possible?
What if it’s not possible to allow every country the right to govern itself anymore? Is it possible for each country to remain it’s own ruling body in the not-so-distant future, if things progress along the current lines of pre-emptive action? Or have we blurred the lines so much in the effort to globalize, that it’s not possible or practical for each country to govern themselves? Could the future really be a single government for the entire world?

Feel free to just tell me I’m a paranoid nutcase, but I’d really like to hear some serious discussion/intelligent debate on the theory of it, there’s alot of really smart people here, and I’d love to hear some opinions from some of you. :slight_smile:

P.S. I know it’s kind of a bizarre train of thoughts from the first part to the last, but sadly, that’s the way my mind runs…in long, curvy tangents :confused:

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Rats. I thought this was going to be a thread about wrestlers of yore. :smiley:

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IIRC, the phrase “new world order” was coined by George Bush Snr. It’s since been jumped on by the paranoid.

However, now read what some of his former (and some of his son’s current) advisors have to say about the way the world should look: http://www.newamericancentury.org.

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Well, I’ve heard new world order used as a phrase long before George Bush Sr., used in reference to things like the Illuminati, but that’s besides the point, and I did state I was a conspiracy-lovin fool :wink:

But that’s kind of beside the point, I only mentioned it to give some background to the curvy way my mind runs :wink:

No one has any opinions on the possibility of a single govenmental body for the entire world? =p

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IIRC, George Bush Senior coined the the phrase to describe the world political system after the fall of the Soviet Union, which completely altered world politics.

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Sure, it’s well on its way, to my mind. We have the new ICC - asserting jurisdiction over 120 willing sovereign nations. While it isn’t universal at this time and does not yet cover all criminal acts, that doesn’t seem much of an impediment, given time. In addition, in an unfortunate hint of things to come, the courts in Belgium seem willing to consider war crimes charges against Ariel Sharon once he leaves office.

Consider the widespread reluctance to take any military action without UN approval. As if Cameroon, Angola, Syria (SYRIA!) and Mexico should have any say over our national security. People are already willing to give the UN authority above and beyond that of our duly elected representatives. It will get worse.

Then consider the sheer scope of such non-democratically elected organizations as WTO to overrule trade legislation by member nations.

Add in the leaps and bounds of technological progress which enables governments to monitor all electronic means of communication and commerce and we’re well on our way.

To my mind, it’s the little things that are the indicators of the direction we’re going:

Credit reporting agencies now collect oodles of information on you every day. One stop shopping for creditors, lenders, mortgage companies, car dealers, and anyone else who wants to spend a few bucks to get into your pocket.

Local grocery stores now offer “lower” prices to members using their special store card, which enables them to track all your purchases and directmail you offers. And what’s to stop them from selling that information database and it winding up in the hands of your HMO?

A local radio station, in California as I recall, is going to start beaming commercials into passing vehicles based on the station drivers are listening to at the time.

Debit cards are now used for something on the order of 95% of all retail purchases in this country. Have you noticed some gas stations are making cash an inconvenience to use? Overseas, cell phones can be used for more and more purchases as well. Money is being phased out, along with checks. Checks take too long to process and then there’s that risky check-bouncing problem.

Internet sales, IRS filings, e-mail, airline ticketing. All replace paper copies, and all are immediately accessible to BB.

I don’t see how the imaginary lines on any map are going to prevent this ol’ world of ours from continuing to shrink more and more every day.