“Newton developed a careful and accurate and, by every indication at the time, a complete explanation of the laws of motion and of the mechanics of the universe. His equations explained equally well the observed motion of objects on earth as well as the motion of the celestial bodies. In fact, too well. The problem had been so completely solved that not a great deal of new thinking was brought to bear on the subject. New thinking was needed, but no one realized it yet. Why? Because Newton’s laws were being applied fortuitously only to the reference frame for which they worked—motion at low speeds compared to the speed of light. No one knew this, of course, because there was no knowledge of things that might move at speeds near the speed of light. So it didn’t matter. Except for light itself. That’s where Einstein stepped in. He began to ask himself very basic questions about light and about moving at the speed of light and about the reality of simultaneity. And he discovered a whole new set of laws of motion that applied only to objects moving very, very fast. And unexpectedly, his laws predicted behavior at high speeds profoundly different from what Newton’s laws predicted. And his laws proved to be correct and Newton’s wildly incorrect at those high speeds. Yet Newton’s laws had been so invincibly successful in all other ways. What to do? The answer lay in understanding the importance of reference frames. In the world of fast-moving objects Einstein’s laws were correct, and not Newton’s.
“As the speed of the objects was reduced, Einstein’s laws themselves reduced to Newton’s laws. In the world of slower-moving objects, Newton’s laws gave the correct answers. This discovery, this sensitivity to reference frames, was then extended to the world of the atomic and subatomic reference frame, and we now know that the laws of quantum mechanics prevail there.
“Refreshing myself on this basic physical reality, I extrapolated the importance of reference frames to international relations as well. The more I examined the world, the more I realized that the rules of international political dynamics no longer fit the world to which they were being applied. The reference frame had changed profoundly. Think of the names that shaped our institutions. Plato and Hobbes and Lock and Adam Smith and Marx. Or think of the nations that set an example for the world. Greece and Rome and Spain and Portugal and Great Britain and France and the Soviet Union and even the United States. Though the United States had no significant colonial empire we had something even better: economic hegemony. And we squandered that, until now.”
Slaider motioned the orderly at the door to approach.
“I believe this will all go down smoother with a little port. May I tempt you?”
Lal nodded his rejection of the offer. “Too bad,” Slaider said, as he motioned the orderly to him. He quietly gave instructions before resuming.
“Just consider some of the features of our world that are unique to our century. The total worldwide interlocking of national economies; the instantaneous transmission of information; the wide accessibility, by even relatively minor nations, or even private pressure groups, of weapons of mass, if not global, destruction; the worldwide impact of state-sponsored terrorism; the total visibility of the crushing debt of the have-not nations for spending the money we gave them and the have nations for spending the money they did not have; the ability of the economically exploited countries to disrupt the worldwide economic interests of the exploiter countries; the awesome advances in technology; the ability of man, by virtue finally of his numbers, to corrupt our “spaceship earth”; the disproportionate hammerlock on the economic life of all the rest of the world’s economies by a small and relatively primitive and unpredictable people, our Middle East tribal communities (one hesitates to call them countries); and finally, not the least of course, the preeminent military strength of the United States. The world has never before seen conditions like these.
“Never before in the history of our planet have there been so many elements capable of profound impact on the world as a whole, on each and every interlocked nation. On the whole globe, I say. And we continue to struggle with theories developed centuries ago, evolved in a world nothing like our own. Of course, each country gets to experiment with how it wishes to organize and control itself. Our American experiment has been going on for almost two hundred and fifty years. Other nations are working out their own destinies.
“But the world—what about the world? The world is left to fend for itself. Except for the United Nations. And I have to tell you, Mr. Secretary-General, the United Nations has not done a very good job of managing the world. And before you jump to the UN’s defense, I have to tell you that I understand that it was not the UN’s charter to manage the world. I know that and that is the problem. The charter of the UNits Newtonian lawswere established for a different reference frame. In the last hundred years or so the world has changed profoundly. But the United Nations remains the same—a deliberative and consultative body capable of limited enforcement measures, and these only when virtual worldwide unanimity exists regarding a perceived common foe. In almost a hundred years of existence, how many times has such unanimity existed? Three times? Four? Are you starting to get my drift, Mr. Secretary-General?
“The old accommodations, the institutions, the forbearances—none of them work anymore. What the world needs is a world government not a continuing platform for endless and pointless wrangling and political posturing. The world needs a central government with an enforceable executive jurisdiction. The new reference frame demands it. I have accepted the challenge of awakening the world to the new reference frame.
“If I may use a religious analogy, while I am establishing myself as a hero at home in America, I am making myself the common enemy to the international community. The antichrist, as it were. And you, my dear Mr. Ranjit Lal, will have the opportunity to become the new Christ. What do you think?”
Lal reached into the inside pocket of his suit where he kept his cigarettes. He took one from the small pack and lit it, thinking, not sure what risks, if any, he should take with Slaider.
“What makes you think, General, that I will not simply leave here when we are through talking and relate everything that you have just told me, your confession I might say, to the press and to the international community?”
“I would deny it.”
“But I have great credibility, considering my position.”
“Mr. Secretary-General, I have greater credibility, where it counts, considering my position.”
“But I would be lending my authority to vice president Latimer’s accusations.”
“It would merely extend the debate. It would be perceived by many as an attempt to discredit me after ordering the UN out of the United States. My dear Lal, your thinking must expand beyond this level. You must allow yourself to accept my control of this situation. You must begin to consider how the present circumstances can be exploited by you rather than waste your energy resisting reality.”
The general stopped and turned to the sound of the orderly entering the room.
“Ah, I see the wine has arrived. Are you sure you won’t join me? Let me at least show you the inside of this vault behind me. I promise you, it is an extraordinary sight.”
93
Lal logged onto the People’s Poll web site and discovered that 79 percent of Americans responded favorably to the expulsion of the United Nations from American soil. Thirteen percent are opposed and eight percent are undecided. The margin of error was four percent.
The latest CNN automatic audience response system results were being announced by the end of the prime time news hour. The People’s Poll participation was the biggest ever achieved by the cable news network.
Fifty-three percent favored the use of force to compel compliance with the eviction order to the United Nations, while thirty-nine percent favored using only a cut-off of services and utilities to force compliance.
On CNN, the announcer shuffled some sheets of paper for a moment. He looked into the camera again and pointed to an electronic tote-board.
“As you
can see, the numbers are still coming in, but the count will be terminated in another ten seconds. However, even without a final count it’s clear that the Executive Council is achieving an astounding approval rating on its performance—on their handling of the crisis of leadership facing America. That’s the final percentage there ladies and gentlemen. The demographics of the respondents is being analyzed and we shouldhold onit would appear that an unprecedented eighty-nine percent of Americans approve of the measures taken and the performance in general of the Executive Council. This is the highest approval rating we’ve ever measured since our automatic viewer response polls were started six years ago.”
A toll-free telephone number overlay the image of the announcer on the screen.
“Please use the phone number on your screen to voice your personal opinion. Our first caller is from Des Moines, Iowa. Go ahead please.”
“Am I on the air?”
“Yes. Please turn your set down.”
“Okay. I think the UN has to go. It was okay while we were the only safe place in the world, but I think it’s just taking advantage of us now. And what do we get out of it to take all these risks with giving free access to every quack and cook—and all those diplomats taking up parking spaces and parking by fire hydrants? I know we have to have diplomats, you know between countries. But they can commit crimes and they steal and one raped a woman and you can’t do anything to them except send them home. So I favor kicking them out.”
“Thank you. And now we go to Roanoke, Virginia. You’re on the air.”
“I just want to say that I hate the way the press is so unfair to General Slaider. If it weren’t for him, there’d be no press to be worrying about. I mean, his quick action, and the council’s really got these attacks under control and I don’t know why the press can’t get its priorities straight. We were in a state of complete collapse and they’re worrying about whether General Slaider dotted every ‘I’ and crossed every ‘t.’ I think Americans are sick of the way the press always seems to pick on whoever is being decisive and getting things done. That’s all I wanted to say. Thank you.”
“Okay, let’s hear from Bangor, Maine.”
“Hello.
“Yes, you’re on the air. Go ahead, please.”
“Uh, I . . . I think, well, that we’re going a little fast. I think it was great the way General Slaider came to the rescue. I really admire him. I really do. And the Council. But I just think we’re moving too fast. Something like breaking the treaties with the United Nations . . . I mean we shouldn’t be doing this in an emotional atmosphere. I think there should be more discussion and debate about it.
“I think the poll tonight just reflects the lack of having all the information. I mean, I voted in favor of expelling the United Nations, along with everyone else. But I think it’s only based on what I know now. I don’t think I know everything and I might change my opinion if we had more time to learn all the facts and hear both sides. I don’t think what we’re doing is fair.”
“Okay. Thanks for that from Bangor. Now we go to Emery, Texas.”
“Brad, I’d like to respond to what that young lady just said. Sure it’s good to wait until you have all the information. But when do you stop? You have to learn to decide . . . to make decisions. You can’t keep whining that maybe you don’t know something. At some point you have to get off the fence. I think the Council and General Slaider have done a terrific job keeping us informed and we all had a chance to hear the outrageous claims of the vice president, who I personally wouldn’t trust as far as I could throw him. And what’s he doing that’s so great, besides getting us into a civil war? Where was he when the president was shot and Slaider was risking his men and his life standing by him, protecting him? Latimer was sneaking out of town. And I believe that the press has covered the UN revelations, the arms, and the conspiracies very thoroughly. But I do agree that they nitpick too much. And telescreen news people too.”
“Okay. And now for Harrisburg, Pennsylvania . . . ”
Lal clicked the set off.
94
The United Nations diplomatic community did not accept the ultimatum to leave the United States, citing treaty obligations and international law. When United States military forces blocked every residence of UN delegates as well as the UN grounds, there were calls within the United Nations for international sanctions against the United States if it persisted in its illegal actions.
The reaction of the Executive Council to the worldwide condemnation was quick in coming. Before a stunned world body, the United States formally withdrew from membership in the United Nations on September eleventh. The US Executive Council claimed that the diplomatic needs of the United States were adequately provided for by the traditional ambassadorial system of international relations.
At the end of the seventy-two-hour period allotted for leaving the US, all services were shut off to the United Nations and the delegate residences. No shipments or deliveries in, no water, no electricity, no air conditioning.
International opinion was unanimous in its condemnation of the United States. Ambassadors were recalled. Defiant statements issued. But reluctantly, one by one, beginning with the smaller states that could not afford to maintain their delegations under the current stressful conditions, began their exodus from New York. Within a week, only twenty of the hundred-and-ninety-five accredited UN delegations remained in the United States.
With the impounding of much of the world’s gold supply by the United States all of the markets of the world were thrown into chaos and then panic. The major economic powers of the world struggled desperately to fix the international rates of exchange. Gold and oil, the euro, the dollar, the yuan, and the yen, lost their relationship to each other. The lesser currencies, and the new currencies, struggling for international acceptance, became worthless on the exchange markets. Trading would be halted time and again in order to impose some order only to collapse again into chaos when trading resumed.
International trade, relying on the swift electronic exchange of billions of dollars, slowed to a crawl, and then a halt, as the normal risks of accepting exchange rates changed from acceptable to intolerable.
95
The withdrawal of the United States from membership in the United Nations was an eventuality not envisioned by the UN Charter. Because of this, the functioning of the Security Council without one of the permanent members created procedural difficulties. It also raised demands by certain third-world countries to do away with the concept of “permanent members.” They insisted that it was time for the Security Council to be completely democratic with no member state having rights beyond those of any other member state.
Sensing the moment was right, the issue was pressed by an aggressive group of delegations seeking a greater shift of power away from the European center. The issue of the veto power was also addressed as being too powerful a weapon for any single Security Council member to wield.
While other members strove to redirect the debate to the challenges to the United Nations itself, resulting from the actions of the United States, the majority of the membership of the world body slowly dissolved into a chaotic swirl of meetings, press conferences, and condemnations of each other.
The Security Council proposed an economic embargo against the United States. This necessitated a debate concerning the protocol for taking action against a nonmember. It was clear that to be effective the entire membership must support the embargo. It was proposed that the General Assembly should therefore be the appropriate forum for imposing such an embargo. However, with the diminished representation in New York, the question of a quorum became an issue.
While the embargo debate raged across the continents, the US Executive Council announced that until all UN delegations and the staff personnel of the United Nations were gone from New York all trade with the United States would be confined to those nations whose delegations have left the US, and to those selective nations with whom US national security nece
ssitates continued trade association.
Thus, while the United Nations attempted to create a consensus for the terms of a UN trade embargo against the United States, the United States announced a trade embargo against the United Nations members still remaining in New York.
Of all the nations of the world, the United States was best-situated to function in temporary economic self-sufficiency. The US Executive Council was also confident that any embargo against the United States would be filled with holes. Too many nations were dependent for their economic survival on trade with the US.
America’s industries and businesses reacted with cautious approval, seeing the prospect for enormous short-term profits from the unexpected protectionist policy. With regard to the import-export balance sheet, the Executive Council assured the exporting companies of America that the tilt would be in their favor. The council asserted that the only impact on their businesses would be a shifting of their markets to the growing number of countries inclined to cooperate economically, even if covertly, with the United States. In any event, they assured the business leaders, the contest of wills would be short-lived.
Subsequent events confirmed this prediction. The attempt at consensus for the embargo against the United States became a shambles and quickly collapsed completely.
96
Philip Layland was waiting for Sylvia when her plane landed at Newark Airport. He spotted her at the baggage carousel and waited until she had retrieved her bags before approaching her. He didn’t want to have to make small talk.
On Deception Watch Page 40