Don Kerr
Collingwood, Ontario
Chris Wood responds:
All three writers conflate distinctions that we must urgently begin to draw. Although the science points to Canada experiencing more precipitation on average, the devil is in the details: extreme disparities of water distribution, both seasonally and geographically. Over time, these will overcome the kinds of rigid, ideologically driven prohibitions that organizations like the Sierra Club insist upon. As to Dr. Gleick’s objection, while I greatly respect his work in this area, I frankly do not see how it is possible to “jointly manage the watersheds we share” without also accepting that, from time to time, water originating on one side of the border may be used on the other. Mr. Kerr is doubtless right that present-day US consumers have in effect stolen water from their children, but I believe he is wrong to hope that we can still stop global warming “at its source.” That train has left the station. As our species has done since we discovered fire and the power of the lever, we will, sooner or later, turn to technology to help us adapt to a changing habitat.
Panda-hugger
It is hard to understand how the willingness to kill hundreds of thousands of American civilians, as expressed by a senior Chinese military leader, can be so lightly attributed to a US policy of “encirclement” (“Containing China,” October). Has Gwynne Dyer considered that China’s increasing bellicosity may play a role in forming US policy? The view on international security from the safe seats may be pleasant but it can also be embarrassing, as it surely was for those pre-war European intellectuals who argued that Hitler had a weak army and at any rate was only pursuing legitimate grievances. To suggest that World War iii might be attributed to the recent US agreement with India is as ludicrous as saying that World War II was caused by France and Britain agreeing to protect Poland rather than by Hitler invading it.
Moreover, the fact that China is becoming America’s largest trading partner in no way negates its potential as a military threat. The close integration of Europe’s economies was considered by many to render war impossible—right up until the outbreak of World War I. That unaccountable leaders will sacrifice the economic welfare of the citizenry in the interests of retaining power is surely one of the most consistent themes of human history.
America’s ability to find willing partners in “encircling” China may actually reflect the legitimate unease of China’s neighbours. Since World War II, China has been involved in armed conflicts with India, the Soviet Union, and Vietnam. In Korea, Chinese troops fought a coalition of United Nations members, including Canada. China has resolved territorial disputes through unilateral action, crushing resistance in Tibet, building military facilities in the Spratly Islands, and drilling for oil in waters also claimed by Japan. To say that China “has no substantial territorial ambitions” except Taiwan is thus wildly optimistic. The enhancement of national wealth and deflection of popular discontent through territorial expansion is, after all, something the United States understands better than most.
Colin P.A. Jones
Associate Professor, Doshisha University Law School
Kyoto, Japan
Shoot Those Chelsea Scum
Although Timothy Taylor’s article (“In The Fulham Road,” September) makes not one single reference to the Liverpool Football Club, there is a strong case to be made that the Reds are in fact the most popular English soccer team worldwide. Liverpool has been a global phenomenon for decades, and it stretches credulity to imagine that a rich owner and one solitary league championship in the last fifty years will catapult Chelsea to such levels of popularity.
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