Wars Often Start with State Abuse. Is the US Next?
The other night I was talking to friends in Portland. They shared their experiences of being tear gassed for peacefully protesting. Them, and at least 1000 others. By federal agents. Just to protect a concrete and fortified building with no one in it on a Friday night. There was no imminent danger, and yet a chemical agent was released on US citizens.
As they were recounting their experience, I could hear the surveillance planes fly over their homes.
This is happening in the US today: state-sponsored violence and surveillance of our citizens.
While the federal agents have left Portland for now, statements from Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf and President Trump provide little confidence that this will not happen again in another city. What occurred over the last two weeks in Portland was an attack on our democracy and sets an extremely dangerous precedent.
The photos and stories from Portland remind me of numerous conflicts and war zones I have worked in over my career: Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Nigeria and others. Before returning to academia, I worked for an international development and humanitarian organization based in Portland. I researched the reasons why societies are fragile and why people engage in violence. I also designed programming to prevent conflict from erupting. More often than not, the reason people engaged in violence was due to the injustices perpetrated by the state.
Based on my experiences and research by many others, I see two paths when states use violence against their citizens. The first is more violence. This is common in weak states where the central government has little control and people form various militant groups to protect themselves from the state. For example, in Mali, young people who were engaged in various violent groups said they joined to protect their families and communities from abuse by security forces. In Somalia, young people who were more politically active were less likely to engage in violence, but more likely to say they would in the future — they wanted their country to change and saw few other avenues for that change.
In contrast, when there is a strong state, the path usually leads to more state repression. I witnessed this in Kashmir in 2009. Kashmir is considered one of the most militarized zones in the world, with one soldier per 30 civilians. While there, I went through more check points than I had in Afghanistan. Every single person I spoke with said they had been abused by Indian security forces — harassed, beaten with sticks, and worse, often in the process of conducting daily life. The dynamics were similar to what we see today in the US. Kashmiris would protest discriminatory policies and abuses by the Indian government. Rocks would be thrown, and then bullets shot, killing protestors and violence would escalate.
The repression in Kashmir has grown worse over the last eleven years, culminating in Prime Minister Modi stripping it of its autonomous status in August 2019. Telecommunications have been shut down, limiting the ability of Kashmiris to show the world what is happening on their streets. We are witnessing similar trends in Hong Kong, with China’s new security law which limits freedom of speech, permits surveillance of citizens and institutes draconian penalties under sweeping mandates.
The US, being a strong state, appears to be on the second path of more state repression. While Trump sending federal agents into Portland and other US cities may be a re-election move, it sets a very dangerous precedent about the use of state-sponsored violence by the Executive Branch for one’s own ends. It’s because of this precedent that I am in disbelief by the flaccid response from our national leaders. Few have spoken out powerfully against what is happening and calling it for what it is: State-sponsored violence against US citizens.
There are differences between China, India, and the US. China is not a democracy. India’s institutions are not nearly as strong as ours. Legal or legislative actions may be successful in curtailing Trump’s efforts, though that could take time. In the meantime, we could see further erosion of our democracy.
While the federal agents are no longer stoking violence on the streets of Portland, this violence against citizens should not be forgotten. We, as a nation, need to prevent this from ever happening again. John Lewis wrote at the end of this life that we can redeem the soul of our nation. We can, if we fight this together.
