If Western leaders want peace, they must accept that there is only one international law condemning aggression, give authority to the UN, and redraw the borders of Israel to allow for the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Lahouari Addi *
By defending itself, Iran violates international law, but Israel and the United States, by attacking Iran, defend international law. Is there one or two international laws? It seems there are two. One justifies aggression and the other prohibits self-defense. This double vision is actually a pathological consequence of racism.
Just as in the past in colonies where the indigenous were not subjects of law, today in the international community there are sovereign states and semi-sovereign states. In this case, there will need to be two UNs: one for the West and one for potential victims of the West.
Neo-colonial conception of international relations
In Washington, Berlin, London, Paris, the law is not considered universal and must be limited to the West. The geopolitical colonial order collapsed in the 1950s and 1960s, but it persists in the practice of Western leaders in the form of a neo-colonial conception of international relations.
What makes the American political class, and its subordinate European allies, nervous is that American hegemony is being challenged and sometimes effectively. The world order based on the invincibility of aircraft carriers is outdated. A $10,000 drone can neutralize a $3 billion aircraft carrier.
Furthermore, economic globalization has at least one advantage: the global capitalist market does not like war. Iran understood this by closing the Strait of Hormuz. Besides its army, Tehran is protected by the stock exchanges of Wall Street, Frankfurt, London, Paris, and more.
Trump’s inconsistent remarks, sometimes declaring the war is over, and other times saying he could destroy Iran, reveal his fear of seeing oil prices soar to $150. At that price, Republicans will lose both the Senate and the House.
Foreign wars and domestic policies
Foreign wars are no longer events of foreign policy. They are now part of domestic policies because people, including the American people, are against wars of aggression.
If Western leaders want peace, they must accept that there is only one international law condemning aggression, give authority to the UN, and redraw the borders of Israel to allow for the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. The postcolonial world order cannot be built with a neo-colonial mentality.
* Professor at the Institute of Political Studies at the University of Lyon.
