The NATO leaders are meeting here in the UK – well Wales actually but let’s not go on too much about nation states. Britain is in the middle of an important and historical debate about whether Scotland should leave the Union and become a small independent nation. Well, that’s up to the people of Scotland and we’ll know their decision in a few weeks from now. It’s none of my business even though my father was a Scot. I’ve always preferred to see myself first as a human being and second as a citizen of the World. I think we all need to respect and protect our own immediate environment so I’m a Lewesian too – proud to live in the small English town of Lewes. Watching the NATO leaders and thinking about the state of the World today, I can’t help thinking that we would all do better to stand together rather than continually struggling to be tiny Nationalist units always at odds with our neighbours and I have no doubt that in the present climate it is time for the peoples of the World to unite rather than splinter. This is a dangerous time – 100 years after that first great Nationalist World War and the many countries of the World have been closing their eyes for too long to a danger that threatens all of us.
So let’s see if we can make it work – here in Europe, in the Americas, Asia, Australasia, Africa and in the Middle East. When all those leaders come together to conference and to pose for group photographs let’s encourage them to do our bidding. All of you out there, put away your differences and combine your economic and, yes, sadly, if necessary, military power, to eradicate from the World what President Obama describes as a cancer. Yes, let’s forget our petty differences and do something about that small band of brutal fanatics known as ISIS. Who knows, if the nations of the World could unite over this then maybe other dreams could come true too.
