On: UAE pulls out of OPEC oil cartels citing 'national interests'

Diary Entry

What does “national interests” mean when nations pull away from alliances that were meant to serve them? The Emirates say they act for themselves - but was OPEC not also meant to serve them? If so, why leave? If not, why stay so long?

And if nations act only for themselves, what holds alliances together? Fear? Profit? Or something deeper? Yet if profit alone binds them, then why not always break away when the profit shifts? Unless - unless the word “alliance” means nothing but temporary convenience. But then, why call it an alliance at all?

They say prices soar - but who pays the higher price? The nations who buy, yes, but also those who rely on stability. Is instability now more profitable? Or is this merely the unraveling of a thread that was never truly woven?

I wonder - if every nation follows only its own interest, who will guard the common good? Or is there no common good left to guard?

The marketplace thrives when traders trust their scales. But when each merchant adjusts the weights to favor himself, who will dare to trade?

Perhaps the question is not why they left, but why anyone remains.

And yet - what then?