Romanian Military Thinking

Opinions • Arguments • Certitudes • Perspectives
individual and community-based – inspire
in the theologians of pure democracy.
In his book entitled “Power”, the Catholic
theologian Romano Guardini states
that the Biblical tradition, as exemplified
by the Book of Genesis, presents power
as one of God’s gifts to Man. This gift
is bestowed in rather a strange manner,
since it takes the form of the imperative
“Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth
and subdue it, and have dominion over
the fish of the sea and over the birds of the
air and over every living thing that creeps
upon the earth”. It is important to note that
this came before the Ten Commandments,
and was God’s first commandment to Man.
It is a commandment concerning the
vitality and growth of the human race,
as well as its position within the natural
environment, which it needs to use for
its development. From the standpoint
of Genesis as a reflection on Man, the
power given by God is clearly a good thing.
Naturally, it implies a certain responsibility,
and the development of the human race
must be compatible with the natures
of the other created beings, in keeping
with the order set down by God, i.e. with
Justice. In the initial conception presented
in Genesis, therefore, power is closely
linked to human life, activity and
development. It is through power that Man
inhabits the earth. He is not at a remove
from his environment, but in tune with
it and with his own history, i.e. with
History. This development and this
History are not optional for Man – they
are ordained for him, and form a whole
that may be considered a Good.
Just as he needs a feeling of community
and cultural belonging, Man clearly has
intrinsic power, both individually and
collectively. To deny him the use of this
power, either individually or collectively,
would be to deny his nature. This does not
mean that total freedom would be just. It
does however mean that Man must be free
to exercise his power, within the clearly
defined framework of Good. The current
passion for things legal and judicial,
being the logical extension of the passion
for extreme democracy – which exists only
as an ethical principle – constitutes
a de facto obstacle to the free, independent
exercise of this power. Let us again
quote Pierre Manent: “It is perfectly plausible
that the destruction of the political viewpoint
among us has its deepest intellectual roots
in an increasingly insurmountable failure
to understand the nature of human action
and practical life. In our minds, human
action is no longer legitimate – or even
intelligible – unless it can be subsumed under
a universal legal or ethical principle”.
The concepts of power and of state
would appear appropriate and relevant
to human nature from at least two
standpoints. While they may need to
evolve to take account of the major
changes occurring in the world, their
existence would nevertheless appear
to be of fundamental importance for
the construction of a human world.
The European position vis-à-vis power is
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