Undemocratic rulers, lawless nations

Dear Readers, I am not sure we really understand how significant it is that our government draws its legitimacy from a firm system of laws. Even the rich fall, caught up in the hubris of power, and suffer for their transgressions.

We see this today in the recent deals being brokered with JP Morgan and SAC to have someone (finally) pay for bringing down our economy. In less “advanced” countries, these types of actions are cudgels for power and revenge, not justice.

There is a good trend that we may have started with our Revolution. Modern governments like ours, with nods to the Greeks, Romans and other ancient civilizations, are a break with the past.

They have replaced nation-states ruled on less egalitarian concepts. All over the world Pharaohs, Monarchs and Caliphs have faded in favor of systems of laws created and managed by legislators, presidents and prime ministers, albeit with wildly inconsistent results.

Yet, despots and undemocratic rulers still exist. And, their mere existence creates a very uncomfortable set of circumstances for us here in America, highlighting the danger of a warring underbelly.

Laws can also get ahead of the will of the people. In the wake of nation-state upheavals in the 20th Century, and two World Wars, boundaries were carved in maps on the desks of diplomats, without any consideration for history, religion and ethnicity. The Kurds of the Middle East, for example, still have no country to call their home scattered as they are amongst Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria.

These manufactured countries by treaties (international law) cobbled together peoples into nations who, in some cases, hate each other.

Democracy clearly works best in a monocultural society or something close to it. Hence, within these cauldrons of discontent and strife, unity is only maintained by iron will and force.

What we find is that when the iron will is removed, chaos ensues. Even when we have the noblest of intentions to bring freedom to long suffering populations, in our absence, fear and autocracy returns.

We see this in Iraq; we this in Afghanistan. Liberated from the tyranny of a brutal dictator, in one case, and a brutal theocracy in the other, to our dismay our best intentions failed to overcome the pre-existing fractures of these two peoples.

Libya offers an even starker example of the lawlessness which results when the iron-hand is removed from a boiling cauldron. These countries are “lawless.”

These are not the only challenges coming.  Egypt is in disarray.  This is an ancient country, a proud people who recognize themselves as a rich culture – quite the opposite of Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet, an elected democracy was overthrown and we feel “good” about this result. Only, now we find, below the surface, fractures threatening Egyptian unity. Again, lawlessness rumbling under autocratic military rule.

The real problem is the Arab oil kingdoms ruled by Sheiks and big oil. Rather than allow their citizens to enjoy the freedoms of modernity, they are both brutally repressive and use the “coin” of oil profits to buy the silence of the repressed through government handouts. This is a disastrous policy.

With increasing efficiencies in the market and a lower demand for Arab oil, the price per barrel has dipped below what these Sheikdoms need to keep a people quiet. If these governments cannot meet their obligations to their citizens, this only leaves repression to stay in power; the type of repression that breeds Al Qaeda – all of the pain and loss caused by Al Qaeda has its genesis in the Saudi Kingdom.

This creates a conundrum for us. Stable countries like the Saudi Kingdom and United Arab Emirates are our “friends,” as much as we have them in that part of the world. But, they are friends like Iran was, e.g., shallow – and, we know how that turned out with the Shah. On the other hand, we do not know if we can “do business” with the unsettled populace like the Islamic Brotherhood in Egypt.

In a sense, we have ignored the damage done by countries ruled without legal principles. The very antithesis of our own government. A price is coming due for having done so, a very steep one at that.

Local attorney Jim Rockefeller owns the Rockefeller Law Center and is a former Houston Co. Chief Assistant District Attorney, and a former Miami Prosecutor. Visit www.rockefellerlawcenter.com to submit confidential legal questions, and to review former articles and Frequently Asked Questions.

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