- Power vacuum
A power vacuum is an expression for a political situation that can occur when a
government has no identifiable centralauthority . The metaphor implies that, like a physicalvacuum , other forces will tend to "rush in" to fill the vacuum as soon as it is created, perhaps in the form of an armedmilitia orinsurgents ,military coup,warlord ordictator .Historian
Fernand Braudel compared the situation of Italy during theRenaissance as a "cyclonic zone , an enormous vacuum", which would sweep in foreign armies:"The strength of the barriers in eastern and south-western Europe varied from century to century. The nomads' worlds rotated between these areas of negligence, weakness and sometimes ineffectual vigilance. A physical law drew them now westwards, now eastwards, according to whether their explosive life would ignite more easily in Europe, Islam, India or China.
Eduard Fueter 's classic work drew attention to a cyclonic zone, an enormous vacuum in 1494 over the fragmented Italy of princes and urban republics. All Europe was attracted towards this storm-creating area of low pressure. In the same way hurricanes persistently blew the people of the steppes eastwards or westwards according to the lines of least resistance." [Fernand Braudel , "Capitalism and Material Life", New York, Harper & Row, 1967, vol. I, p.57 ]During or following a
civil war there is often a power vacuum of some sort. For example, the war-torn nation ofSomalia is currently mired in a power vacuum, with no central government or president exercising control over the supposed "Republic of Somalia".A power vacuum can also occur following a
constitutional crisis in which large portions of the government resign or are removed, creating unclear issues regarding succession to positions of power.After the Second World War, there was a power vacuum. Along with the division of East and
West Germany , Stalin's diplomacy and governance, the development of the atomic bomb, policies ofcontainment ofcommunism , the expansionism of the USSR and a growing lack of trust (fear of ahegemony ) were seen to be factors in the emergence of theCold War .More recently, the tight control which
Saddam Hussein 's Baath party exerted onIraq could have been exploited during a transitional hand-over period following the2003 invasion of Iraq . Instead, theUS Government 's policy of purging Baath party members from the Iraqi government after the invasion created a power vacuum which was quickly filled byinsurgents , who then began to attack American service personnel usingimprovised explosive devices andsnipers such as Juba. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2252730,00.html]The general concept of a "power vacuum" is relevant to many personal and organizational situations. In the criminal world many druglords are able to become untouchable because of fear of any backlash occurring in a power vacuum situation.
References
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