State collapse
State collapse, breakdown, or downfall is the complete failure of a mode of government within a sovereign state. State collapse may coincide with economic collapse but differs from societal collapse, which is a more prolonged process.
Potential for instability
In totalitarian states or in an ideocracy , individuals may develop a closed mind and an authoritarian personality, making them more likely to resist the threat to the incumbent regime.[1] Psychologists[2][3] speak of a "Masada complex" that may drive fanatics to a suicidal, violent last-ditch stand; "History teaches that dangers are never greater than when empires break up."[4]
The new regime gains power, not through the truth of its doctrines and promises, but through its ability to organize and absorb the frustrated masses.[5] As Pope Francis warned in 2017, "in times of crisis, we lack judgement".[6] The timidity of the old regime contrasts with the boldness of those in rebellion against it; 'Where power is not joined with faith in the future, it is used mainly to ward off the new and preserve the status quo. On the other hand, extravagant hope, even when not backed by actual power, is likely to generate reckless daring.'[7] 'The frustrated see in a general downfall an approach to the brotherhood of all. Chaos, like the grave, is a haven of equality.' [8]
Prevention
'Ensuring legitimacy through justice, simultaneous development, and an approach consistent with the mean, will ensure a state becomes and remains stable. These ideas, first put forward by Aristotle, remain relevant today.' [9]
In popular culture
Collapse provides abundant material for semi-fictional books and films, which dramatically demonstrate the turbulent effects of collapse upon innocent or naive individuals. Bernardo Bertolucci's film, The Last Emperor, showed the collapse of both Imperial China and Manchukuo, as well as the post-collapse trial and rehabilitation of Pu Yi. Bruno Ganz played Hitler in Downfall, which portrayed the final days of Germany's Third Reich. Events from the period, as seen by prisoners at Auschwitz, are shown in Primo Levi's memoir, If This Is a Man, and in the graphic novels Maus and Maus II. Kurt Vonnegut witnessed the bombing of Dresden and fictionalized the experience in Slaughterhouse Five.
Robert K. Massie's book about the last Russian tsar, Nicholas and Alexandra, was also filmed. Doctor Zhivago and And Quiet Flows the Don (filmed as War and Revolution) relate stories of families caught up in the collapse of Russia; and The House of the Mosque and Persepolis, in the collapse of Iran.
The Left Behind series of novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins features the supposed role of Israel in the apocalyptic End Times. In the spy novel The Mask of Dimitrios, 1939, Eric Ambler comments; 'In a dying civilization, political prestige goes not to the man with the shrewdest diagnosis, but to the one with the best bedside manner.'
See also
References
- ^ Piekalkiewicz and Penn, The Politics of Ideocracy, SUNY Press, 1995, p. 45.
- ^ Robert Alter, "The Masada complex", Commentary magazine, 1 July 1973.
- ^ Jerrold M. Post, editor, The Psychological Assessment of Political Leaders, University of Michigan Press, 2003, p. 345.
- ^ Margaret Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, Harper Collins, 1993, p. 769.
- ^ Eric Hoffer, The True Believer, Harper Perennial, 2010, p. 41.
- ^ Samuel Osborne, The Independent on Sunday, 22 January 2017.
- ^ Eric Hoffer, The true believer, Harper Perennial 2010, p 9
- ^ Eric Hoffer, The true believer, Harper Perennial 2010, p 98
- ^ Christian Breede, 'The challenge of Nation-building: Insights from Aristotle', The Journal of Conflict Studies, vol 29 (2009)