International Politics in the 22nd century

Impressions are so important in International politics… Russia is the Bear, India is the Elephant and America the Bald Eagle…. Everyone selects their representative fauna for strength, power, agility etc… no one seems to go for endurance or just plain old survival. If that was the case the cockroach ought to be representing some country…. After all, they’ve been around almost 300 million years and are the ones most likely to survive a nuclear holocaust, not so the elephant, bear or eagle. All those will curl up and start to putrefy just like the dinosaurs.

In fact, given the current ‘Global Crisis’ and economic whachumaycallit I have a few suggestions regarding animal characteristics that countries could use.

• Agility – Earthworm – chop of its head and it can still crawl up your pants.
• Adaptability and speed – Mosquito – centuries of innovation and invention and we still can’t get rid of the damn thing.
• Survival – Fly – need I say more? They can eat anything and thrive in the worst of conditions. Given the food price inflation that we’re struggling under, I think this one is worth considering.
• High elevation adaptability – Mountain Goat - they are perfectly happy prancing around 15,000 feet high and don’t feel in the least bit ill.
• Survival in extreme cold – Polar bears or Emperor Penguin– Just in case the next ice age is right around the corner… you’d best be prepared
• Desert Survival – Camel – hey, fresh water is running out… fast… the camel might just teach us a few useful lessons. These guys can go a whole week without drinking water… don’t even want to think about the bad breath!
• Survival – Rat – not quite like the cockroach but definitely as difficult to get rid off…. These guys are immune to practically anything and breed like… well like rats! Devastate the population and its back to normal in a couple of months.
• Survival in any conditions – the Giant Tube worm - They can survive thousands of feet below water, in toxic waste, in freezing water and even in boiling water. Given the global warming and changing climate conditions…. This is useful stuff.
• Radiation survival – Water Bear – these microscopic guys can survive 1000 times more radiation than any other animals including humans. They can survive temperatures as low as -272°C and as high as 151°C. They can survive over decade without water. They can even survive in vacuum of space for as long as 10 days. (I’d like to meet the scientists who were sooo vela in life that they actually conducted these tests to come up with this data.)