The Presidential Debate and Sudan: The Other in Their Concepts
By: Ali Askouri
Some commentators and writers have expressed their discontent over the lack of attention given to the war in Sudan by the U.S. presidential candidates during their recent debate. This discontent prompted me to write this article.
It seems that those lamenting the disregard of Sudan’s war have forgotten the history of Western civilization, which the U.S. today stands atop as its sole leader since the end of World War II. Unlike previous civilizations, America was born from a mature society as Europeans migrated there, bringing with them their complete worldly knowledge and concepts in various fields of life, including violence and wars. Thus, America’s history is, in one way or another, an extension of Europe’s history, laden with its burdens, tragedies, calamities, and crimes against the peoples of the world. Therefore, it is natural for America to follow the same old path of aggression and exploitation, as the saying goes, “A thing is not surprising from its origin.”
In this brief article, I will delve slightly into the pages of Western civilization’s past to clarify the concepts upon which it was built regarding its view of other societies. Because these concepts are ancient, fixed, and still applied today, the current presidential candidates do not concern themselves with the problems of other societies unless they intersect or align with their interests. This is the demand of the state institution in Western civilization, which is a nation-state steeped in racism (refer to the Treaty of Westphalia, 1648). With this fact in mind, the candidates can only speak with high professionalism and within a pre-determined framework that directly reflects the agreed-upon interests of the ruling classes without touching the foundational pillars of the state institution in the West.
Although this is a vast and complex topic, encompassing historical periods before Christ, I will attempt to simplify the idea for the reader by summarizing long historical eras, hoping it won’t be too lacking. I will briefly reference those who established the Western perspective on others and leave it to the interested to research more, so people may understand the deep-seated principles that govern Western policies in dealing with other peoples.
Western civilization has deeply rooted racist foundations dating back to the days of the Greek or Athenian civilization, passing through the Roman Republic (later the Empire), the Portuguese, Spanish, Habsburg, French, and British empires, and ending with modern-day America. In all these empires, the core principles of Western civilization have remained unchanged, even if the people and geographic centers of decision-making shifted.
Western civilization was built on purely racist principles, with slavery as its cornerstone, as I will discuss. The Greek and Roman civilizations heavily relied on slavery, which was the dominant feature of those civilizations. Both civilizations were founded on the idea that Greeks and Romans were free, while other peoples were inferior and deserved to be enslaved whenever defeated in wars, where prisoners of war were the primary source of slaves.
It is known that the foundations of Western civilization trace back to Athens and its philosophers like Plato, who was against democracy and didn’t believe in it. However, his view of slavery, which was central to life and production, was more lenient than that of his student, Aristotle. While Plato accepted slavery as a right acquired by the Greeks, he saw the need “to separate those who speak the same language from each other on the farm to prevent them from conspiring.” This was the extent of his concession regarding slaves. But his student Aristotle believed that slavery was a natural gene that ran in the blood of slaves. According to Aristotle, “A slave is a slave because he was born a slave, meaning he is a slave by nature; he only partakes in reason to the extent that he can perceive it but does not possess it himself.” (Dollocamban: The History of Slavery). This view of the inferiority and enslavement of other peoples persisted across centuries and remains deeply embedded in Western state institutions today.
Even though these concepts originated before the birth of Christ, they continue to shape the Western view of other races and ethnicities. A significant development occurred when the Catholic Church took up the mantle in the 13th century.
Athens would attack countries along the Mediterranean coast, enslaving the defeated, who would then be chained, along with their descendants, in the bonds of slavery. The Roman civilization—especially during the “Republic” period—was equally fierce in wars, importing slaves from Macedonia, Carthage, and other Mediterranean shores and conquered lands, with historical sources noting that the number of slaves in Rome exceeded a million. All this occurred before the mission of Christ.
Nonetheless, Aristotle’s ideas continued to dominate the view of others as a reservoir for slaves and resources to be enslaved whenever they were conquered. Although many of those enslaved were free in their lives, but had the misfortune of being captured, Aristotle deliberately ignored this fact and considered them slaves by birth, naturally endowed with the genes of slavery.
