tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2604558299883827002.post7548048813487193084..comments2023-10-19T03:57:52.022-07:00Comments on SIS 640 Group 1: War on Terror vs. Cold War Public DiplomacyKatie Schoenbergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07460931724201957850noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2604558299883827002.post-76036332357046389012009-12-07T22:15:08.402-08:002009-12-07T22:15:08.402-08:00I think that the catalyst that united the nation, ...I think that the catalyst that united the nation, at least initially, behind the War on Terror was also the reason why a sangfroid public diplomacy effort was not the country's first recourse. The deep shock of violence of 9/11 demanded a visceral response from the national psyche. That's not to say that coming out of the gate shooting was the smartest answer; and the general public/journalists/politicians who should do their homework allowing Iraq to be drawn into the fray based on false information (or a complete lack thereof) was a mistake. This just goes to show why the public needed the elapse of time for fervor for the War on Terror to cool off-- it was a war sparked by "hot" warfare and responded to in kind. The Cold War, on the other hand, was for the most part the exact opposite. It was a war of rhetoric and fear-mongering. Granted, there were proxy wars going on that did entail real violence, but they did not involve American lives the way the War on Terror does today; and the threat of nuclear attack was not the same as actually being attacked and knowing that you are targeted by organizations that are unafraid to die for a cause that is not bound by rules or values that you have in common.Rachel Rabinowitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00510813188360638224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2604558299883827002.post-71836981855789026932009-12-07T22:13:32.660-08:002009-12-07T22:13:32.660-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Rachel Rabinowitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00510813188360638224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2604558299883827002.post-32313721989647408852009-11-25T10:59:27.713-08:002009-11-25T10:59:27.713-08:00I think your theory about why Cold War diplomacy w...I think your theory about why Cold War diplomacy was more successful is interesting,and I think the last part about the timing and the pre-existing sentiment is probably the most likely. I would only add to it that Cold War public diplomacy was about much more than Russia-- just like the 'war on terror' this was a 'war on communism'. I'm just brainstorming here, but another similarity between the two is that terrorism/terrorist has become equated with Middle Eastern ethnicities and religions, and communism was linked to any country at all that had something akin to communism, such as socialism, etc., so sort of the same things happened—people from certain countries were always under suspicion, for example. Furthermore, like the war on terror, the war on communism was used to restrict free speech and rights in the U.S. as well as abroad, exemplified by the McCarthyism and various other persecutions and even executions of U.S. citizens suspected of being spies for the "dirty Reds."<br />I wonder if Cold War diplomacy was more successful simply because of the lack of globalization of images and media—at least to the extent we have today? The photos of Abu Ghraib, the sanctioning and attempted legalization of torture by the Bush administration evidenced in the Pentagon Papers, and the unilateral action of going to war without the support of the U.N. security council made this a little different from the Cold War. The Cold War was also not preceded by Guiness Book Of World Record size protests…I’d also like to think that the (limited) popularity of citizen bloggers in-country in Iraq, like Riverbend, provided a voice that made it clear to anyone reading that the invasion was unjust, and was not having positive results…<br />I also don't think I can yet step back from the Iraq War enough to comment in any coherent or objective way, and I apologize...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13620026789640255655noreply@blogger.com