"[When asked, "Dr. Einstein, why is it that when the mind of man has stretched so far as to discover the structure of the atom, we have been unable to devise the political means to keep the atom from destroying us?"] He answered ; "That is simple, my friend. It is because politics is more difficult than physics.
For tens of decades, man has achieved tremendous success in developing technologies but it has failed woefully in preventing the political effects of such technologies.
That takes us to the definition of politics as put forward by Harold Laswell which states "Politics is who gets what, when and how?". This may be seen as the most narrowed definition of politics but it best describes the intricacies of politics and reaffirms the fact that politics is "interest driven" .
On August 1945, The United States, With the consent of the United Kingdom as laid down in the Quebec Agreement, dropped nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the final stage of World War II. The two bombings, which killed at least 129, 000 people remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in the history of mankind. The use of Weapon of mass destruction by the United States would have been unnecessary if man had a generally accepted means of solving political knots.
The ten worst acts of terrorism ever committed in the history of mankind were viable owing to the inability of man to devise political means of preventing the same atom they created from destroying them. These terror acts include :
1. 9/11 attack against the United States by the AL Queada network.
2. Yazidi Communities bombing on August 14, 2007.
3. Al Hillah Bombings against Shia Muslims on March 6, 2007.
4. Baghdad bombings on April 18, 2007.
5. Mumbai Train bombings on July 11, 2006 in India.
6. Sadr City Bombings on November 23, 2006 in Baghdad, Iraq.
7. London Transport Bombings on July 7, 2005.
8. Supper ferry 14 bombings. The world's deadliest terrorist attack at sea on February 27, 2004.
9. Madrid train bombings, also known as "11-M" which is considered the most tragic terrorist attack in Europe on March 11, 2004.
10. Bali bombings on the October 12, 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta, considered the deadliest act ever in the history of Indonesia.
As Aristotle rightfully puts it; "man is naturally, a political animal". Man is driven by interest and can go miles to satisfy such interest. In International relations, national interest of state actors and the interest of non-state actors constitute a top priority in its relations with other states and organizations/institutions of the world.
The failure of man to eliminate totally the use of the breakthrough in physics to achieve her interests best explains the difficulty in politics.
In as much as this maybe difficult to admit, politics remain the only field man is yet to conquer as political puzzles still beg for interpretation.
The inexplicable truth is that; issues in contemporary international relations such as proliferation of nuclear weapons, armed conflicts e.t.c can't be successfully de barred because the world may never get it right politically.
NOTE BIEN : The above anecdote of Albert Einstein describing "politics as more difficult than physics" was shared by Grenville Clark of Dublin, New Hampshire, in a letter he wrote to the New York Times after learning about the news of the death of Einstein on April 18, 1955. It was published on 22 Apr 1955.
# OkebePhilips, a political analyst/strategist, writes from Enugu, Nigeria.
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