Poul Anderson's Maurai have it both ways:
"'Your Federation swears so piously it doesn't intervene in the development of other cultures.'
"'Except when self-defense forces us to,' Alisabeta said. 'And only a minimum.'"
-"Progress," p. 103.
"'We think Maurai interference should be kept to an absolute minimum.'
"'Nevertheless,' he said, sharp-toned, 'you do interfere.'
"'True,' she agreed."
-ibid., p.136.
In this also they resemble the Patrol:
"...the truth about his own corps, which was his own family and nation and reason for living...They weren't merely safeguarding a perhaps divinely ordained history which led to them. Here and there they, too, meddled, to create their own past...."
-Poul Anderson, "The Only Game in Town" IN Anderson, Time Patrol (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 129-171 AT 7, p. 171.
"Everard sat straight. The stem of his pipe broke in his fist. He ignored the coals that fell onto the lush carpet. "'Wait a minute!' he cried. 'You've been tinkering with reality yourself?'
"'Under authorization,' he heard; and his jaws locked on silence."
-Poul Anderson, The Shield Of Time (New York, 1991), PART TWO, 1902 A. D., p. 122.
5 comments:
Well, self-defense apparently 'forces' them to attack another country's territory and destroy a non-military research project...
Indeed. What counts as "defense"? I remember a hefty guy interviewed on TV cheerfully saying, "You hit me; I'll hit you back - harder." But, contextually, "hitting" him probably included, apart from the literal physical meaning, working against the perceived interests of his country's government anywhere in the world.
And Putin thinks Ukraine wanting to join the EU is an act of aggression against Russia. So it goes, so it goes...
We discuss Poul Anderson's Maurai and, as part of this, we discuss the current conflict. It is always relevant.
Are we now looking into one of PA's post-nuclear futures - like the Maurai History?
Kaor, Paul and Mr. Stirling!
Putin's invasion of Ukraine, and the indiscriminately brutal methods he favors, are indeed FOUL. That said, I don't think we should be surprised. Those who studied Putin must have known for years of how bitterly he resented the breakup of the USSR AND of his belief that the Ukrainians are RUSSIANS who should be part of a Greater Russia.
Also, I can't help but wonder if Putin and his generals blundered, underestimating both how strongly Ukrainians would fight a Russian invasion and the force that would be needed to successfully conquer Ukraine. Instead of 150,000 or so troops and tanks, half a million would have been more likely to work, using overwhelming force to quickly break resistance.
Ad astra! Sean
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