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Quest :. Social Problems. Lecture 9: June 25. Announcements. Study for Test 3 tomorrow Review organization of slides (so you can LOOK UP ANSWERS) Review “Study Guide” at beginning of each slideshow Practice explaining each item IN YOUR OWN WORDS
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Quest: Social Problems Lecture 9: June 25
Announcements • Study for Test 3 tomorrow • Review organization of slides (so you can LOOK UP ANSWERS) • Review “Study Guide” at beginning of each slideshow • Practice explaining each item IN YOUR OWN WORDS • Practice coming up with examples of each item • Finish writing your Project Report • IF you’re submitting Essay 3
Study guide • Vocab • Military-industrial complex • Terrorism • Blowback • Concepts • List of reasons for war (numbered), examples • Why did America rise to global leadership after WWII? • How does war inspire national identities? • Why might war be a part of the American identity?
War and terrorism • Quick worksheet: Reasons for some wars, and for US involvement? • Just brief answers. “Official” reasons given by the government. • We will review in a few minutes, then draw out some common themes…
Why we fight: general causes • Textbook lists many; I add a couple more… 1. Perceived threats (like US vs. USSR in 1962 after Bay of Pigs)
Why we fight: general causes 2. Cultural/religious differences Examples: Many genocides like Balkan conflict in the 1990s, Manifest Destiny vs. Cherokees during Trail of Tears…
Why we fight: general causes 3. Political objectives Ex.: US entering Persian Gulf War to “stabilize the region” (clip 3 Kings?)
Why we fight: general causes 4. Moral objectives Ex.: US in Vietnam, saving people from Communism
Why we fight: general causes 5. Wealth, power, and global standing Ex.: Hussein invading Kuwait in 1990 (clip from 3 Kings?)
Why we fight: general causes 6. Distract from social problems Ex.: China vs. Korea to distract public from internal problems. Some say this about Putin and Ukraine.
Why we fight: general causes 7. Military-industrial complexin U.S. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY We go to war to • benefit defense companies (more $$ for industry and/or rich owners)… • and/or to justify big defense budgets (more power for military officials).
Why we fight: general causes • Mutually exclusive? An example of overlap? • Is there anything in common beneath all of them?
Why we fight: broad trends? • Samuel P. Huntington (remember him) suggests in Clash of Civilizations • Among monarchs • Among nations (French Revolution to WWII) • Among cultural ideologies (Russian Revolution to Nazism to Cold War • Among religious ideologies (Jihad) • Sam sees conflict getting worse as it gets more cultural. He argues that cultures can’t compromise…
War and america • Have American wars been based on perceived threats to American lives? OR • Have they been based on perceived threats to American morals? • Christianity, capitalism, American global superiority… • Maybe war is an essential part of America’s identity?
War and America and the globe • Historically, war catapulted America to economic and political leadership: • Globalization begins with WWII • America as “breadbasket” • America as banker • America and the UN
Whose war is it anyway: their war • Growing disenchantment has led people to question war as an American moral value. • Vietnam • Iraq • “Old men lie and young men die.”
Whose war is it anyway: our war • Still, the masses of a country very often feel an intense and meaningful connection to the wars their elites get them into. • Chris Hedges’ War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning: • War inspires nationalism, social solidarity, excitement… • Media glorifies war: excitement, courage, brotherhood…
War and terrorism: blowback • Al Qaeda: what is their mission, where, why? • Al Qaeda history: mujahideen, commies and Rambo • Blowback definition • Third-world peoples have seen this blowback coming against us for decades.
Social problem of war • Is war a problem we can end? How? Social problem of peace • Or is war the answer to a social problem question we haven’t asked?