Adam: What I mean is simply that millions if not billions of people around the world feel as if they are oppressed by America--not by American military might necessarily, but by American products and culture. What I wrote goes beyond "policy" narrowly defined. Corporate America, as well as the U.S. government, would like to recreate the entire world in America's image. As one of my students pointed out on Wednesday, many people in the Middle and Near East (and to a lesser extent, Europe) already see themselves involved in a war against American imperialism--a war to save their traditional cultures. This is the context of Tuesday's attack, and no matter what the criminal/military solution is in the short-term, I believe that we should use this event as a wake-up call to discuss America's role in the world, and not in a narrow military/governmental sense. And to those who say that any policy changes that come out of this allow the terrorists to win, I say this isn't a game of tennis--it's about what's just, fair, and right. The logic by which foreign policy is conducted as a game with winners and losers is probably part of the problem. I have no specific policies to propose because I don't have enough familiarity with the specifics of regional politics. I just think the deeper issues go way beyond that. Fundamentally, I think we need a new self-awareness and a reality check without resorting to platitudes. --joe wright
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0: Sat 12 Feb 2022 12:30:44 AM EST EST