Power is power

For some readers of this column, the title may be a reminder of that blockbuster American drama series streamed by HBO more than a decade ago. Yes, ‘Game of Thrones’. There was a bit in which a main character, the queen, demonstrates the brutal logic of this expression when someone invokes the adage that ‘knowledge is power’ and how prominent families often forget this simple truth.

Since I had not watched the series, which had more than 70 episodes, I cannot put this scene in any context against the backdrop of the story and its events set in a medieval fantasy.

I have seen the clip, though. The queen, when she hears these words of wisdom, orders the arrest of the person who has spoken them. “Seize him. Cut his throat”, she says. The guards immediately grab the person. Then, the queen relents, asking the guards to “wait”. “I have changed my mind”, she says, ordering the guards to move away. She steps towards that person and softly says, “Power … is power”.

Why have I chosen this reference to begin my column? Obviously, it is meant to describe, in a symbolic sense, the present state of affairs in the world. One’s mind would readily turn towards Venezuela. But there are other, equally appropriate, instances to show how this adage has prevailed in these supposedly democratic times.

It would be valid to suspect that I am also thinking about our own Pakistan, which has, as they tend to agree, a hybrid system. Does this mean that it is not a democracy in a real sense? Be that as it may, power in its raw form seems to have an upper hand when it confronts knowledge in any of its refined manifestations.

I realise that this question of how power is exercised in a society and what legal and moral limits are imposed upon it cannot be discussed in this space. Besides, Pakistan has its own social, political and economic dynamics and has its own experience with civilian and military rulers.

In a conversation with a learned person at a wedding reception last weekend, I had to bear with a detailed analysis of how successive rulers in Pakistan have played foul with the power that they were able to command. I found it amusing that my interlocutor was rooting enthusiastically for a particular leader and was convinced, at the same time, that his leader, if he were elected as prime minister, would blatantly misuse power and would surely make a mess of it. That is the only option we have, he said with a sigh. In our political culture, he argued, the corruption that comes with power is inevitable.

But, as I have indicated, my focus is more on some global developments. The imperial stance that President Donald Trump has adopted has raised questions about America’s democratic sense of direction. Naturally, there is a spirited debate on the steps taken by the present administration, with its shades of authoritarianism.

In fact, I was largely motivated to examine the uses of power after reading a column in The New York Times early this week. Katie Rogers, the newspaper’s White House correspondent, has commented on an interview given to Jack Tapper of CNN by one of Trump’s close advisers serving as the White House deputy chief of staff.

The headline of the column said: “Stephen Miller offers a strongman’s view of the world”. And the sub-heading said: “President Trump’s trusted adviser is casting his hard-right gaze abroad, saying the world must be governed by ‘force’”.

As Stephen Miller explains it, Trump’s foreign policy ambitions are to exploit less powerful, resource-rich countries and territories the world over and use those resources for America’s gain. According to him, to quote from the column, “using brute force is not only on the table but also the Trump administration’s preferred way to conduct itself on the world stage”.

In his CNN interview, Stephen Miller had said: “We live in a world in which you can talk all you want about international niceties and everything else, but we live in a world, in the real world Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power….These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time”.

Hence, the Trump adviser defended the large-scale military operation in Venezuela and the capture of its president, Nicolas Maduro, with his wife. They were swiftly flown to the US, where Maduro is being tried in New York on a number of charges. He also asserts that the US has the right to take Greenland.

Now, apart from the Trump administration’s initiatives in the domain of foreign policy, an incident in the American city of Minneapolis on Wednesday has underlined the use of excessive force in a different context. The fatal shooting of a woman driving an SUV at point-blank range by an officer of the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agency has sparked mass anger, and demonstrations have been held in various cities to protest the killing.

Video footage has refuted the Trump administration's claim that the agent acted in self-defence. This statement was made by President Trump himself. On social media, Vice-President JD Vance described the victim as a “deranged leftist”. The incident occurred during a protest against immigration enforcement in the city. The victim happened to be a 37-year-old American citizen, and she was also a poet.

One reason for the popular outrage against the Minneapolis killing is that the ICE agents have been rather brutal in their operations against illegal immigrants. Their show of force has attracted widespread criticism in the country.

Going back to ‘Game of Thrones’ and its essence, as expressed in the phrase ‘power is power’, one wonders whether its sequel, set in modern times, is possible. Its storyline could go beyond Venezuela and incorporate other wars and conflicts of today’s world. And, of course, we have lived through Gaza.

The writer is a senior journalist. He can be reached at: [email protected]

Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed in this piece are the writer's own and don't necessarily reflect Geo.tv's editorial policy.

Originally published in The News