Retrieving the Paths of Universalism

Abstract

This essay reflects on the decline of universalist thinking in international relations in the light of the events of 2023-2024, particularly the war in Gaza. The author argues that politicians and journalists explained the conflict through the most immediate events and personalities rather than its long maturation, and that the universalist hopes that flourished after 1945 have been swept away by a gradual return to crisis. Looking back on international developments since 1945, the essay identifies two phenomena: unequal conflicts, in which the state capacities of a great power, such as tanks and bombing planes, are used against populations lacking means of defence, and the legacy of colonialism. It traces the Palestinian question from the British mandate and the 1947 UN boundary proposal, through the wars of 1948 and 1967, the PLO, Yasser Arafat and the rise of Hamas, to the October 2023 attack and the Israeli response, arguing that a lack of precaution, the precedence of domination over cooperation and the gradual elimination of possibilities for Palestinian development produced a situation resembling that of former colonies. The essay also considers the loss of authority of the UN and the International Tribunal, comparing the UN with the League of Nations, the threatened hegemonic position of the United States, and the stifling of universalist thinking by nationalist discourse.

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