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Short answers. Fifteen (15) questions from the list below will appear on the exam. You must answer eight (8), and your choices must cover at least four (4) different weeks. A typical excellent answer would contain 1-2 substantive paragraphs and cite specific sources where appropriate.

Week 2 | ‘Us’: America’s stories about itself

1. Nations form the basic unit of the international political system. What is a nation?

From a broad perspective, the word ‘nation’ describes a group of people, either members of a community, subjects of a ruler, or citizens who share a common sense of community, history, and identity. This sense of togetherness can most commonly be seen in a shared language or religion.

John Baylis and Steve Smith cite three phases that composed the modern concept of a nation and nationalism today. The first phase occurred in the Enlightenment with Jean Jacques Rousseau’s theorizing of a shared political, democratic community in which people could freely express their common interest to those who rule over them. The second phase is associated with the French Revolution and the idea of a community of equal citizens (i.e. the French), and the third comes from the German concept of a people formed by history, tradition, and culture (volk).

2. What is meant by the terms ‘national narrative’ or ‘national myth,’ and what are some that the United States has about itself (for example, with the Second World War, the Cold War, the end of the Cold War, the War on Terror)?

A national narrative is used to help a nation establish some sense of moral character. National narratives and myths are invented to give some sort of framework through which citizens of that nation can view themselves and the actions their government takes. These narratives champion a certain set of values that residents of the nation will claim as uniquely theirs, resulting in the excuse of many government actions that could be seen as falling under the umbrella of the values espoused in their national myth.

The story of how the United States entered World War II is a national myth. We describe ourselves as reluctantly heading into battle after we were viciously attacked at Pearl Harbor. Viewing the United States as the victim of an attack by the Japanese makes them fighting the war understandable. If someone was not fed this national narrative, though, they may have had an entirely different perspective on the situation.

3. What are the main narratives and meta-narratives in the United States around 9/11?

With respect specifically to 9/11, the U.S. populace was and is to believe that Al-Qaeda terrorists, headed by Osama Bin Laden, attacked the United States for purposes that were deeply personal and fundamental. Our attackers, ones who were barbaric and uncivilized by nature, were ones who hated American democracy and religion. To quote President Bush, “they hate our freedoms”; the terrorists’ hate was baseless. America did nothing to deserve these attacks, and when they happened, the country (government included) was taken completely by surprise.

The Bush administration’s framing of these attacks harkens back to, first, Pearl Harbor and WWII in which America was, again, taken by complete surprise and were compelled to fight back in a violent manner. Would the U.S. shy away from its enemies this time? Secondly, the way in which America was set apart by its attackers is very reminiscent of the Cold War, where two fundamentally different ideologies clashed. America’s new enemies were once again “totalitarian” and threatened the American way of life.

4. “…a very quiet kind of fascism” – that’s how a friend of Hansen’s describes her belief in American exceptionalism. Define that exceptionalism and explain why this criticism could be made.

Suzy Hansen describes American exceptionalism as a belief that is sinister, but quiet; a concept that every American has been told repeatedly and has almost gone unquestioned: America is not only the greatest country on Earth as a truly free and modern nation, but it’s the superior country out of all others. To be an American is to be one that is superior to others on a global scale.

American society is structured in such a way that there is no escaping this concept. It is taught to you in some form or another via your family, friends, media, and education. In this manner, the government’s teaching of American exceptionalism is a “quiet form of fascism” in which we are tricked into thinking we can think freely, but are trapped by one structure of thought.

Week 3 | ‘Them’: Theorising the ‘other’

5. Define the concepts from social psychology of ‘social categorization’ and ‘us/them’ and explain how they affect foreign relations.

Social Categorization is the idea that everyone makes social categories for people (mom, dad, sister, teacher, student, etc.) and puts them into them subconsciously. This categorization enables us to assign people to broad social categories, simplifies the world, and creates and defines our places in the world. This categorization leads directly to the formation of in-groups and out-groups. An in-group is a group you identify as a part of, while the out-group consists of everyone who is not a part of that group.

These ideas contribute to the four components of the us/them narrative.

  1. In-group assumed similarity effect: we perceive people in our in-group as more similar than those in other out-groups
  2. Out-group homogeneity effect: we perceive everyone in an out-group as the same
  3. Accentuation effect: accentuates differences between in-group and out-group members, bias towards information that enhances differences
  4. In-group bias: In-group members more interested in beating out-group than in gaining as much as possible.

Us-them thinking, referred to here as a dualistic and dichotomous forms of thinking, restricts our judgements of others to two extreme categories of “good us” and “bad them.” As one becomes attached to an in-group, there becomes a need to justify in-group values as being at a higher moral level than those of others, to develop sensitivity to threats, and to engage in simple social comparison processes in order to both grow loyalty and identify closer to the in-group. In this process, to connect to the in-group, it is simple and easy to exaggerate difference between groups. This creates a dichotomy and removes any sort of nuance or “in betweenness”: you’re either with us, or against us.

Overall: social categorization and in/out-groups tells us that being stratified into groups makes it easier to exaggerate differences between groups of individuals, advancing in-group collaboration and making it easier to antagonize out-groups. These “Us/Them” ideas influence foreign relations because we automatically sort ourselves into “us” as Americans and “them” as the rest of the world, in particular third-world countries or groups we are fighting.

6. Define the ‘modernisation paradigm’ and explain its significance.

The modernization paradigm, created at the start of the Cold War, meant the “imposing of the West’s system of governance (‘democracy’), its systems of economy (‘capitalism’), and its lifestyle practices (‘freedom’) on foreign countries in order to lead them down…the ‘irresistible and obviously superior path to modernity.’

Such a paradigm would guide America in its endeavor not only to keep those countries it could away from the clutches of communism, but would also shape how Americans perceived other countries. To justify American involvement and expansion post-WWII, according to Hansen, ‘lesser countries’ were referred to as left behind, resistant to reform, and developing. American intervention was thusly not only justified, but the optimal path a developing country should take. This form of thought shies away from overt racism while implying that all countries could become like America, a notion that Americans truly believed to be true.

7. Define systemic racism and explain the ways it has shaped foreign policy and foreign relations.

Systemic racism is the intentional or unintentional marginalization of groups of people within an established system. Systemic racism is much more than emotional outbursts from old white men, it is present even when it’s not explicitly stated. It is the reason that African American mothers are more likely to die in childbirth in the US, and why people of color are more often pulled over for drug use despite them statistically being less likely to use drugs than white people. Racism on the institutional level is almost never explicitly recognized, and it is often carried out by people who are unaware of its presence.

The United States’ foreign relations have been in part determined by systemic racism. It often views itself and other ‘western’ countries as humanitarians or saviors of Africa. As Mahmood Mamdani said when comparing America’s relationships with Darfur and Iraq, “Unlike Iraq, Darfur is a place for which Americans do not need to feel responsible but choose to take responsibility…. In Darfur, Americans can feel themselves to be what they know they are not in Iraq: powerful saviors.” The United States implicitly sees Africa as a land of ‘savagery’ that needs to be lifted out of its ways and brought into the ‘western’ way of thinking, a way of acting that the United States exclusively applies to countries of color.

8. Explain the psychodynamic process of projection and internalization and how they complicate any self-other relationship.

9. Define ‘orientalism’ and explain its significance in the West’s foreign relations.

“A subtle and persistent Eurocentric prejudice against Arab-Islamic peoples and their cultures,” which derives from Western images of what is Oriental that reduce the Orient (the Middle-East) to the fictional essences of “Oriental peoples.” The cultural representations of Orient depict the Orient as “primitive, irrational, violent, despotic, fanatic, and inferior.” It is only when the West imposes itself on these societies that they change for the better. According to Edward Said, this notion of Orientalism dates back to European Enlightenment and the Western colonization of the Arab World.

Historically, Orientalism has greatly affected the West’s foreign relations specifically with Middle-Eastern countries as can be seen in the American invasion of Iraq.

10. “The powerful only see tragedy when it suits them.” Explain what Gary Younge means.

Those in power (in Younge’s case ‘a political class’) have “made the calculation as to who matters in society. It is only when a tragedy of great proportions, one that is well-documented and well-reported, occurs that this powerful class may acknowledge the injustices done unto the people they have seemingly left behind. For instance, the poor black population of greater New Orleans (after Katrina), the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire all were neglected by their respective governments (and populaces for that matter) until massive tragedy befell them.”

On a broader spectrum, those that are fortunate to live lives comfortably in a position of societal power in their respective nations (i.e. “the white American” per James Baldwin) will only take notice of a tragedy when either it directly affects them or is made widely popular via the media.

Week 4 | Rich? Poor! American prosperity and the realities of development

11. What is meant by ‘globalization’ and what ideas and assumptions about free trade underlie it (linking to Chang)?

‘Globalisation’ refers to the processes by which trading between countries becomes easier and products come to be produced for less. When globalisation occurs, in any form, industries may shift from rich to countries to poor countries where labour is cheaper. Products made in these countries can then be imported for less.

According to Chang, the general narrative regarding globalisation is that globalisation is, in fact, a positive force in the world that not only benefits the consumer, but developing countries that receive new business via the industries that move to said countries. Here it is assumed that developing country needs the ‘help’ of other nations in the effort to grow their economies and domestic industries; both history and data reveal that these developing countries are much better off utilizing protectionist methods to generate general growth.

Globalisation negatively affects both countries that are shifting their production elsewhere, and countries to which production is shifted.

Cheap labour is a main problem and source of backlash. It was, in particular, the competition between workers in developing and developed countries that helped drive down wages and job security for workers in developed countries. Over and over, they would be held hostage to the possibility that their business would up and leave in order to find cheap labour in other parts of the world; they had to accept restraints on their salaries—or else. Opinion polls registered their strong levels of anxiety and insecurity, and the political effects were becoming more visible. The inevitable result would be (was) a huge political backlash.

13. In the documentary Stealing Africa, the president of Zambia says of his country and continent: “We are rich, yet we are poor.” What does he mean and why is this so?

The country of Zambia is very rich in natural resources, especially copper. They should be wealthy, by all intents and purposes. However, western nations constantly come to Zambia to mine their copper. These huge companies take copper from Zambia, sell it for loads of money, and never pay the Zambians anything close to what they should be making in wages and taxes from the sale of their natural resources.

14. What do Wilkinson and Pickett (The Spirit Level) argue are the main problems with inequality (as opposed to just poverty)?

Wilkinson and Pickett argue that inequality has harmful effects on society in the forms of “eroding trust, increasing anxiety and illness, (and) encouraging excessive consumption.” Inequality has ramifications in eleven different areas of public health and social problems: “physical health, mental health, drug abuse, education, imprisonment, obesity, social mobility, trust and community life, violence, teenage pregnancies, and child well-being outcomes are significantly worse in more unequal rich countries.”

15. What forms does US foreign aid primarily take, and how does the US compare with other developed countries in level of contribution?

About 38% of U.S. foreign aid falls in the basket of “long-term development aid” which is composed of projects that promote broad-based economic growth and prosperity to the world’s poorest countries (e.g. health programs [AIDS/HIV], money that goes to multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, etc.). 35% goes toward military and security aid; surprisingly, this ‘aid’ money primarily goes toward helping allies purchase U.S. military equipment as well as train military personnel.
16% is composed of humanitarian aid (short-term aid) and a smaller 11% goes toward political aid that is intended to support political stability, free market reforms, and democratic institutions. Much of the U.S.’s foreign aid budget goes to health projects (in that category, projects that help fight HIV/AIDs and malaria as well as “Maternal and Child Health program are big beneficiaries).

In regard to amount of aid, the U.S. appears to be quite generous on paper (about $50 billion went toward foreign aid last year), but in comparison to other developed countries, it ranks 20th in development assistance on a percentage of gross national income.

16. According to the documentary The Chinese World Order, China offers a different model of development than that of the West. Describe the difference.

Week 5 | Good? America’s ‘arsenal of democracy’

17. What are the guiding purposes and principles of the United Nations and the Geneva Conventions, and what are some of their weaknesses?

“The Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols are international treaties that contain the most important rules limiting the barbarity of war. They…are at the core of international humanitarian law, the body of international law that regulates the conduct of armed conflict and seeks to limit its effects. They specifically protect people who are not taking part in the hostilities (civilians, health workers, and aid workers) and those who are no longer participating in the hostilities, such as wounded, sick and shipwrecked soldiers, and prisoners of war. The Conventions and their Protocols call for measures to be taken to prevent or put an end to all breaches. They contain stringent rules to deal with what are known as ‘grave breaches.’ Those responsible for grave breaches must be sought, tried or extradited, whatever nationality they may hold.” The main weakness of the UN and Geneva conventions is that there is no military power behind either, and therefore they cannot be substantially enforced. The world court can try people to hold them accountable for breaches of the Geneva convention, but the country of the person on trial must be subscribed to the court (the US is not).

19. According to the documentary Necrophilous, what are the main tactics used by the CIA since the Second World War in terms of interventions in the affairs of other countries?

20. According to the news report ‘Spin, with Josh Rushing,’ how have US presidents since Vietnam ‘sold’ war to the American public?

The Vietnam Syndrome related to a wide-spread disgust by American citizens over the mass slaughter committed in their name. By the time the Vietnam War had ended, public opinion in the U.S. was overwhelmingly opposed to U.S. military intervention abroad because the cost of such intervention was now known. To avoid this ‘syndrome,’ American officials under the Reagan administration undertook a conscription program that targeted those in economic trouble as well as “intense media censorship of the casualties of war.” The narrative was constructed that modern warfare was a very impersonal, detached process that only took the lives of those who were participating in it. But it was not true.

Some ways in which U.S. presidents have ‘sold’ war includes:

Week 6 | Pax Americana!?!?!?™ Permanent militarism and the national security state

21. Explain The Bush Doctrine (borrowed from the Wolfowitz Doctrine) and some of its consequences.

This doctrine went much further than Reagan’s “realpolitik” and containment strategies. The term “neo-conservative” is born. When it was leaked, the document caused an uproar. People questioned whether preemptive war could ever be considered “just,” or if the US would be engaging in wars of aggression from now on. The doctrine was quickly shelved and forgotten until 9/11. Bush revived the document, and after an attack on home soil there was much less backlash to the proposed document.

22. Explain what Bacevich means by the ‘Pax Americana cartel.’

When Bacevich mentions the ‘Pax Americana cartel,’ he is referring to the “remarkably large swath of establishment worthies” who subscribe to the notions of American global hegemony via American military intervention. The roster of such a broad ‘cartel’ includes the likes of popular broadcasters such as Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly and columnists such as NYT’s Bret Stephens. To this day, the ‘Pax Americana cartel’ holds wide influence in politics as pro-war, pro-American-dominance influencers limit the “allowable opinion on foreign policy” in the media to the opinion many politicians want to hear—America must defend not only itself, but the world from imminent danger; the U.S. is perfectly capable of embarking on this venture alone.

23. What is the NDAA and what are the main criticisms of it, according to the documentary Drone Nation?

The National Defense Authorization Act signed into law by President Obama established funding for the U.S. military… it also happened to do a bunch of really controversial stuff, including but not limited to Section 1021: Detention without trial. This section allowed the U.S. to detain anyone under suspicion of terrorism without trial or due process, regardless of whether they’re a U.S. citizen.

The main criticisms surround its violations of due process.

24. According to Drone Nation, what are the main problems with drone strikes?

25. Describe the decline of diplomacy as tool of US foreign relations and explain some of the consequences of that decline.

The decline of US diplomacy really started after the end of the Cold War. In the 1990’s, the U.S. international affairs budget tumbled around 30%. While in office, Bill Clinton closed 26 consulates and ended 50 USAID missions. This change resulted in and was furthered by the beginning of the Bush Doctrine. The Bush Doctrine was codified in the National Security Strategy of the US in 2002 and used to justify most foreign policy since, including the Iraq War of 2003 as well as all counterterrorism efforts since then. The Bush Doctrine requires the permanent militarisation of foreign policy and supports unilateral, preemptive military action. In short, the consequences of the decline of diplomacy as a tool for foreign relations are a more aggressive foreign policy focused on winning by way of brute strength as opposed to compromise by way of negotiation.

Essays

1. Suzy Hansen interviewed an Iraqi man who said to her, “We know so much about your country. And you don’t know anything about my country at all.” Why is it difficult for Americans in general to empathise with certain foreign perspectives? Draw on relevant theoretical concepts and historical examples.

2. The liberal/conservative oppositional divide in the United States could be said not to apply as much to foreign relations or to each major political party’s vision of America in the world. Using what we have studied in the first half of this course, how would you make that argument?

4. Two cornerstones of democracy, it can be argued, are the rule of law and the existence of an informed citizenry. Based on your studies in the first half of the course, in what ways have these two cornerstones been eroded within the United States since the end of the Second World War?