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Józef Pilsudski of Poland is one of the most interesting figures of European history during the first third of the 20th century. Variously a communist, a nationalist, a liberal democrat, and a crypto-fascist strongman, he ran the gamut of inter-war European ideologies. He also employed a wide variety of policies to achieve his various aims, the two most interesting of which were Prometheism and Miedzymorze. Here is a quick description of Prometheism:
Prometheism (Polish: "Prometeizm") was a political project initiated by Poland's Józef Pilsudski. Its aim was to weaken Tsarist Russia and its successor, the Soviet Union, by supporting nationalist independence movements of the major non-Russian peoples that lived within the borders of Russia or the Soviet Union.
Between the World Wars, Prometheism and Pilsudski's other concept of a "Miedzymorze federation" constituted two complementary geopolitical strategies for him and some of his political heirs.
And here is a quick definition of Miedzymorze
Miedzymorze was a project pursued after World War I by Józef Pilsudski, of a Polish-led federation of Central and Eastern European countries. Invited to join were the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia), Finland, Belarus, Ukraine, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, and the Czech lands.
The Polish name Miedzymorze may be translated as "Intersea" or "Between-seas" and has also been rendered, from the Latin, as "Intermarum" or "Intermarium."
Neither project succeeded, at least partially because Pilsudski engaged in a series of military conflicts with neighboring states, thus rendering such broad co-operation impossible. However, I admire Pilsudski's audacious strategic goals to defend a series of new and relatively small nations against the massive empires of Germany and Russia, from which many of these states had been recently liberated. Had both plans succeeded, World War Two would almost certainly have been avoided, and the Cold War might have been averted as well. Now, nearly a century later, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent eastward expansion of the European Union, both Prometheism and Miedzymorze have basically been achieved. The peoples of the Baltic, Black and Caspian Sea basins have achieved independence (though some still lack democracy). Most of these new nations have joined with international organizations such as NATO and the EU that provide them with strategic security from what is still quite clearly an aggressive Russia.
I wonder if Pilsudski's goals can be applied to the American political system. For one thing, the pluralist strategy I have discussed for the Democratic Party and progressive movement is reasonably analogous to the international concept of Miedzymorze. Further, the past six months have strongly suggested that a Prometheist strategy might be within reach. At least three major pieces of the Republican coalition have threatened significant breaks with the larger coalition, which collectively would leave Republicans as a rump, minority political party for a generation. Consider the following:
- Ron Paul, with a legion of libertarian and other various fringe followers, has demonstrated real activist potential and has risen to over 5% in pretty much every poll of the Republican primary. He has also refused to endorse the Republican nominee, and suggested that a third-party run is possible.
- Michael Bloomberg, who recently left the Republican Party, has also made a lot of noise about a possible third-party run. It is even possible that he has begun baseline polling and national advertising for such an effort. Apart from potential internal Bloomberg polls, Rasmussen and other outlets suggest that a Bloomberg run could net a high single-digit or low double-digit result. Not only would Bloomberg take a lot of Rockerfeller Republcians along with him, but he would also capture a decent amount of LieberDems who undermine the Democratic coalition at virtually every turn.
- Several prominent theocon leaders have vowed to pursue a third-party effort in the event that a pro-choice candidate wins the Republican nomination. Such a campaign might be incompatible with a Bloomberg run, since I don't know what Republican nominee would push both theocons and country club Republicans to pursue third-party campaigns.
With the rapid growth of both all three House ideological caucuses, Blue Dogs, New Democrats, and Progressives, certainly Democrats have their own balkanization problem. However, in contrast to Republicans where three major third party threats are still on the table, none of the divisions among Democrats have resulted in any serious third-party threats this year. I don't think a total anti-Republican Prometheian strategy is possible in the short term, since I don't know what circumstance would result in the simultaneous splintering of the socially conservative theocons, the country club Bloomberg types, and the American exceptionalist, libertarian Ron Paul types, but it still seems useful to think about. As Democrats expand their coalition to include a series of smaller, very pro-Democratic identity groups, driving deep wedges into the Republican coalition seems to be a natural, complimentary strategy. This is very much what happened to Democrats in the 1980's and 1990's, after all, as Dixiecrats, New Dems, and Naderites all splintered the party in different directions just as Republicans were sweeping to power nationwide.
So, any thoughts on strategies to drive deep wedges into the Republican coalition? This isn't something Democrats have been very good at lately, or really ever, but I think it is a subject worth exploring in more detail.
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