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The Disturbing Sounds of the Turkish March

The true problem with “militaristic humanism” resides not in “militaristic,” but in “humanism,” in the way a military intervention is presented as humanitarian aid

By Slavoj Zizek

On September 16, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner warned the world that when it comes to Iran’s nuclear program: “We have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war.” The statement, predictably, caused great uproar, with criticism focused on what Sir John Holmes, head of the U.N. refugee agency, called the “Iraq taint.” After the… return to article

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    Kouchner the “Great Humanitarian” ?

    After a strong beginning, he has been promoting himself as such for decades now, but that idea should have been exploded by the mid-Nineties.

    Great success in Kosovo, wot ?

    The power of the medja again !  He is caricatured here as always carrying a sack of rice over his shoulder, an insider joke that at one time he always arranged for the TV cameras, and some humanitarian goodies to be delivered, wherever he went .  This self-promotion worked for many french as well as Mr Zizek.

    “According to most of the polls, the main reason of those who voted “no” at the last referendums in France and Netherlands was their opposition to Turkish membership. “

    Really ? I don’t know about the Dutch, but Turkey wasn’t even a consideration for anybody I met in France . Enforced Privatisation of public services and utilities and increased precarity in employment were .  Also the unceasing “Yes” bombardment by most of the Press, where the proprietors shut out their journalists who disagreed .

    I wasn’t too happy when Tony Blair forced through the enshrining of NATO in the Constitution, either .

    If you are thinking of expelling Poland, where will that stop ? Should the current turmoil in the Banking system spread further, plus we have a new Oil crisis, and we enter a recession, or worse, a lot of nasty populist movements will come out of the woodwork . What was Eastern Germany has its New Nazis, already .

    Seems that there is no “impasse” on the Constitution. It has just been split up and added in here and there to old treaties. No referenda this time ?

    Too late to continue, but I will conclude by remarking how surprised I was at the Turks continuing to knock on Europe’s door . The ones I knew and worked with long ago were a proud lot . The Turkish Parliament refused to allow the US to use their territory for a ground invasion, I seem to remember .

    France Posted by frog on Nov 6, 2007 at 8:08 PM

    Regarding the line in The Ninth most crucial to Zizek’s thought here, let’s recall that Schiller’s original text read:

    “Bettler werden Fürstenbrüder” and not “Alle Menschen werden Brüder”

    (Trans: “Beggars become brothers of princes” NOT “All men will become brothers")

    In short, Schiller struck a note of economic justice absent from The Ninth.  So I wonder:  were this particular sentiment included in the chorale would the piece still be hailed as a celebration of humankind’s inherent sense of solidarity or would it be dismissed as maudlin sentiment?

    Greece Posted by TheoPapathanasis on Nov 11, 2007 at 4:36 AM
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