Michael Moorcock was one of the great Science Fiction writers, and his Elric of Melniborne series is a classic fantasy with deep political roots. Yet, despite his avowed anarchist beliefs, Moorcock presents a universe ruled by the Lords of Chaos in constant battle against the Lords of War. Somehow ordinary humans seem to be will-less puppets, subjects of struggles beyond their control. 

Nonetheless, I think the theme of a struggle between chaos and law is aposite. The struggle in Europe is, as was the previous unpleasantness in the 1940s, between a dogma of rule by diktat, by force, by imposition, against a dogma of law, of binding agreements, and the common good. A further dimension: On the one hand a paradigm where people are declared subjects to a political power, and subjected to its whims and rules, even to being commandeered to die, and on the other hand, one where the self-determination of peoples, respect of territorial integrity and the rule of law is the norm. 

This struggle between world views may well be traced back to the struggles in the Roman Empire and the middle ages. In some recent political pronouncements, I read echoes of the doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings applied to so-called elected Presidents. The Renaissance, Enlightenment, and subsequent political discourse in the west created an international system where member states are expected to conform to certain international rules. We, the Peoples of These United Nations, so the Preamble states.

The worldview of equality before the law, of equal voter's rights, of freedom of expression is slowly gaining ground, not just in the bastions of democracy but also in Africa, where Presidential dynasties are challenged, where people's voices are increasingly being heard. 

And yet... Hollywood feeds the square-eyed generations a constant diet of violence as means of achieving aims. Maverick breaks rules, ignores orders, defies laws, even some laws of physics, to be rewarded by acclaim and by the girl... Dirty Harry, and any number of other heroes, are such by their use of violence, not by their use of legal structures and mechanisms. No wonder young people seek violent confrontation against political opponents. 

South Africa recently saw the President's State of the Nation address disrupted as members of a minority party rejected the Parliamentary structures afforded them. 

Whatever the political history of Ukraine may be, the war in Europe has shown us how ordinary people could influence events and stop armed attacks, sometimes by something as simple as a packet of seeds. Crowdsourcing of drones and popular support for those denied a voice also elsewhere in the world are the manifestations of political freedom of expression. 

The struggle for democracy and the Rule of Law is an old one that needs constant attention. For, as John Donne said, 'No man is an island...'