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Life Arts    H2'ed 9/8/10

A not so new U.S. public policy

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Jim Miles
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Other highly arguable statements enter the discussion, the most egregious stating, "There is no serious philosophical or ideological competitor to the model of liberal democracy that embraces some variant of capitalism," followed by a comment indicating that this somehow "rehabilitates" Francis Fukuyama's --poorly understood "End of History" thesis." Somehow the author does not seem to see the perhaps too subtle contradiction for himself when he says later, "Money talks, and what currently tells the world is that America is a militarized democracy." If its militarized, is it a liberal democracy? Is it even a democracy? Is militarism a variant of capitalism"okay I can answer that one with a yes, all the way from Thomas Friedman's hidden fist thesis right through to the not very subtle and rather exposed capitalism that seeks out the oil of Iraq and Saudi Arabia (good democratic states) and on into the strategic requirements of the geopolitical sphere in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, and elsewhere.

We are nowhere near the end of history, liberal democracy is a nice sounding essentially unused sound-bite, and capitalism and democracy have very little in common - only an "image' distilled through arrogance and ignorance. The author's final statement about the "remaking of America's image cannot be done without cultural diplomacy" sinks the whole argument. In a lesser way because the world is not ignorant of U.S. culture, it is already widespread and obvious, especially the part that you "do" as compared to the part that you "say." Which leads to the greater way because it is still all about image, and again, the world is not as stupid as U.S. arrogance and ignorance deem it to be (pardon the repetition here, but it does fit) but is quite capable of seeing the contrast between ideals and actions.

Religion

The essay on "Public Diplomacy in an Age of Faith." has similar weaknesses. It is much too presumptuous that religion carries the answer to democracy and wealth (among other presumptions). The authors state that "A more expansive religious freedom agenda should seek to promote regimes that consistently apply religious liberty tenets rooted in constitutional government. [italics added] There are two major developments left out of the authors' arguments. First are the evangelical right wing Christian organizations in the U.S. that support Israel and that tend to deny religious liberty to others, especially Islam and those that do not hold any belief.

Secondly, and this a major problem, is Israel. This "Jewish and democratic state" that is yet to exist within defined boundaries and occupies most of Palestine, is neither democratic (yes it has the institutions, but it does not have the laws nor the rationale) nor is it a constitutional government. Without discussing this issue, in light of events in the Middle East, without discussing the power of the AIPAC lobby, without discussing the huge amount of aid, much of it military, and support, much of it military, given to Israel, then any arguments about liberty and constitutional governments becomes worthless.

To make it more worthless, the author's conflate through statistical co-relations the idea that religious practice promotes economic growth and development. Certainly the first world countries have a good degree of religious freedom, but cause and effect are certainly not defined but assumed and implied in this argument. One could also co-relate science and technology with economic growth and development and have a far stronger case for proving it.

Again there is a significant difference between a co-relation and a cause and effect relationship - it's like saying because trees sway and bend in the wind that swaying and bending trees cause the wind. It is the obverse with the wind - the wind causes the swaying and bending - as it probably is with society - development and economic growth promote religious freedom - although that is even arguable as it is more than likely that a true democracy with well developed judiciary and other social systems will cause - or allow - the occurrence of religious freedom.

The authors' final statement leads back to Israel and a constitutional government, "The [U.S.] needs an overarching policy that communicates a consistent message about the importance of religion and religious liberty in a constitutional order." That will be seen when Palestine and Israel come to grips with each other, when the "crusade" in the Middle East "war on terror" is finished, when AIPAC no longer drives the U.S. congress, when the U.S. stops profiling those of Islamic and Arabic descent. A very tall order.

The military

This essay, "The U.S. Military and Public Diplomacy," comprises nothing more than a huge extended oxymoron and is not really worth any deconstruction. Just one line of arrogance, nay, ignorance, to highlight that: "Public diplomacy is too important to be left entirely to civilian agencies, particularly as the actions of the U.S. military critically affect the way other countries and their citizens view the United States."

This statement in particular dumbfounds me. It is so".oblivious"?"to the actions that the rest of the world detests that it simply does not make any kind of sense, unless"here I go again".viewed through lenses clouded with arrogance and ignorance.

Four words

So there, four words to describe this book - arrogant, ignorant, image, FAIL. It would certainly make my critique shorter if that was all I wrote, but my pen ran over in disgust.

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Jim Miles is a Canadian educator and analyst who examines the world through a syncretic lens. His analysis of international and domestic geopolitical ideas and actions incorporates a lifetime of interest in current events, a desire to (more...)
 

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