The Department of Homeland Security and the home security industry. The Minutemen and border fences. A military budget equal to the rest of the world's combined. Government surveillance and torture. Anything to "keep us safe."
No to the European Union. No to Turkey. "We asked for workers and they sent us people." Ban the hajib in French schools. Eastern Europeans taking jobs from western Europeans. Anything to avoid fighting another war.
Have the U.S. and western Europe become cultures of fear?
And is that fear written on our stars?
More below the fold....
The (Geo)Politics of Emotion - Cultures of Fear
This week Morning Feature explores Dominique Möisi's new book, The Geopolitics of Emotion. We began Wednesday with a summary of Dr. Möisi's thesis, and his observations of China and India as cultures of hope. Yesterday we examined his idea that the Arab-Islamic world is a culture of humiliation. Tomorrow we'll explore Dr. Möisi's projections for the year 2025, depending on whether hope or fear emerge as the world's dominant emotion.
To review, Dr. Möisi offers three driving emotions in geopolitics - hope, humiliation, and fear. He suggests that the dominant emotion in a culture is most apparent and important in how that people interact with the Other, and that "In the age of globalization, the relationship with the Other has become more fundamental than ever." (p.20) Broadly speaking, cultures of hope are more likely to work with the Other, cultures of humiliation more likely to lash out at the Other, and cultures of fear more likely to isolate themselves from the Other.
Cultures of Fear - western Europe and the U.S.
Dr. Möisi offers this self-talk description of the culture of fear that he believes best describes the West today (pp.90-91):
"What's happening to us? We used to be in control of our collective lives and identities. We used to be in charge of the rest of the world. Even if, in the twentieth century, we led ourselves to self-destruction [World War I] or to suicide/murder [World War II and the Holocaust] at least we did it to ourselves. Those were our own follies. Now it seems we are to be victimized by forces beyond our control. Asia is about to overtake us economically. Fundamentalists in the Islamic world are intent on destroying us. Immigrants from the southern nations are about to overwhelm us. Is there any way we can regain control of our own destiny?"
As he did in the prior sections, he goes on to refine his definition of fear (p.92):
In its most common interpretation, fear is an emotional response to the perception, real or exaggerated, of an impending danger. Fear leads to a defense reflex that reveals and reflects the identity and the fragility of a person, a culture, or a civilization at a given moment.
Dr. Möisi suggests an existential identity question as the base of the culture of fear in western Europe - "Who are we?" - and cites friction between impulses of nationalism (e.g.: "We are French") and Europeanism as both a cause and an expression of that fear. This question is also evident in western European responses to immigration. The quote in my introduction - "We asked for workers and they sent us people" - was a common German expression of unease with Turkish immigrants who arrived under the guest worker program but did not return to Turkey. Until the advent of the European Union, even third-generation Turkish immigrants were ineligible for German citizenship.
Dr. Möisi also suggests a deeply-rooted fear of conflict, reasonable given Europe's experiences in the 20th century, that both inhibits responsibility for upholding human rights and drove a wedge between Europe and the U.S. during the Bush administration. He suggests that Europeans were quick to denounce human rights abuses around the world, but loathe to act on those abuses. Instead, he says, Europeans demanded that the U.S. take action ... while simultaneously denouncing U.S. interventionism.
He spares little criticism of the U.S. Having studied and worked here, and as a European whose father was liberated from a concentration camp, Dr. Möisi describes his criticism as that of "a disappointed lover." Our culture of fear is similar to that in western Europe, but he suggests it has slightly different roots and expressions, and those differences have widened the gulf between former allies.
Dr. Möisi suggests that the U.S. has historically been a culture of hope, believing we could meet any challenge and overcome any obstacle, but he also notes that expressions of fear have arisen throughout our history: in our oppression of Native Americans and blacks, in violent resistance to unionization and liberalizing movements in the early 20th century, in paranoia about communism during the Cold War, in attempts to paint China as the new Super Enemy after the fall of the Soviet Union, and now in our response to terrorist attacks.
For me, Dr. Möisi's most telling indictment is that in our naked imperialism during and especially since the Cold War, we have "betrayed the American promise" (quoting the subtitle of Tony Smith's 2007 book A Pact with the Devil: Washington's Bid for World Supremacy and the Betrayal of the American Promise). Instead of being defenders of self-determination, popular sovereignty, and the rule of law, the U.S. became just another imperial power based on the morally bankrupt idea that might makes right.
If global dominance and an ever rising material standard of living are the indices of hope - as they have been in the U.S. at least since 1948, and were in western Europe before that - then the West is indeed likely facing a permanent decline and our fears are not only reasonable but may indeed underestimate our plight. But Dr. Möisi suggests these need not be our indices of hope.
He suggests Europe and the U.S. must instead vest our hope in living up to our ideals on human rights and the rule of law. We must not merely "practice what we preach," but "preach through our practice." That is, we should stop lecturing the rest of the world and instead prove that through fidelity to our ideals the West can survive and thrive as virtuous societies, whatever our challenges.
+++++
Perhaps it was the stratocumulus clouds obscuring the stars, or perhaps it was the clouds of fear, but your Kossologist is a bit less intrepid than usual this morning. And given the normally gloomy outlook of the Kossascopes, that could mean trouble....
Gemini - Your sun sign ends tomorrow. Into the Kossological wasteland for another year.
Cancer - You are ruled by the Moon. The Moon we're about to launch a rocket into. Really.
Leo - Things are brighter for you, as you're ruled by the Sun. The one causing global warming.
Virgo - Your fears are reasonable, and all the more so after you list them alphabetically.
Libra - We're not blaming you, but libraries are woefully underfunded.
Scorpio - At least there's no sign for frogs, because you're scary in that parable.
Sagittarius - Your planet is Jupiter, so you should be very afraid of comets.
Capricorn - Your fears are groundless. That's why you keep falling and never hit bottom.
Aquarius - Two words: "rabid ferrets." Just sayin'.
Pisces - Your weekend plans should include sunshine. And moonshine.
Aries - Don't think about that danger. Oh great, you just did anyway.
Taurus - There's a fine line between "brave" and "Darwin Award nominee." Just sayin'.
+++++
Happy Friday!