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The Domino Theory was a legitimate foreign policy based on the data collected during the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and LBJ/McNamara administrations. Secretary of Defense, McNamara believed that a Sino/Soviet bloc existed that was coordinating a communist takeover of East Asia. What happened in reality was that Ho Chi Minh and the Vietcong used Chinese assistance to withstand French and then American involvement in South Vietnam only to strike out on their own by shaking off Chinese dominance. The Chinese were in fact competitors with the Soviets for spheres of influence in Asia. The two great powers even fought a border skirmish in Manchuria (I forget the actual date on this tussle). The reason the Domino Theory came into existence was due to the backlash the Truman administration suffered when the Nationalists were exiled from mainland China to the island of Formosa (Taiwan). Truman was blamed for losing China, and the residue of this blame game created the policy to contain the spread of communism to the rest of East Asia. Korea became the test ground for the new containment. The Eisenhower administration continued the containment policies in Korea, and Indochina simply became the latest installment. By the time of Johnson, the Domino Theory was practically canon in foreign policy thinking as a Democrat administration continued a Republican idea. It was a theory that invoked consensus on both sides of the aisles. Sadly though, military containment did not work against communism, only economic development and democratic impulses checked the advance of Marxist regimes. The Nixon, Ford, and Carter administrations shifted their emphasis from a generic containment of communism to an attempt at thawing relations with the communist powers. Nixon engaged the Chinese in diplomatic dialogue for the first time since the rise of the communists and Henry Kissenger initiated the new policy of detente which allowed a communist sphere of influence based on the reciprocity that the communists allowed a mirror sphere of influence for capitalism. It was not until the Reagan Era that detente was dropped in favor of escalation eventually leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Iron Curtain. The Soviet Union disintegrated not long after as the costs of the military industrial complex overwhelmed the stagnated Soviet economy. China has retained its communism only because it has gradually incorporated a controlled capitalist element to its burgeoning economy. China is communist ideologically, but economically it is approaching a free market. In time, communism will be restricted to Vietnam and Cuba…..and in Cuba’s case, it may only last as long as Fidel Castro remains alive.
As for the second part of the question. No Bush is not waging war to prevent a domino effect of terrorism....he is waging a war to erect a domino effect of democracy. If Iraq's democracy is successful, he believes it will spread to the rest of the Middle East like a contagion.......the contagion of liberty. 😀It is apples to oranges. The economy of 1929 was truly an inflated economic bubble that burst once confidence in the banking system eroded to a panic. The economy was not as diverse and could not absorb the loss of speculative revenue provided by financiers. The Dust Bowl and a stagnant foreign market in Europe contributed to the economic spiral. The economic recessions of the early and late 1990’s were attributable to Banking scandals, tax hikes, and instability in the Middle East. 9-11 triggered a recession due to the shake-up to world stability it caused. Bush’s economic stimulus package and our sophisticated and resilient economy weathered the storm and is steadily returning to positive expansion. The Stock Market crash in October 1987 was actually worse, and it was followed by unprecedented growth making the crash seen only as a correction to the torrid speculative pace generated during the Reagan Era. The Asian Meltdown a few years back could have caused America great damage, but again American resilience withstood the shakiness of the Pacific Tigers. In sum, it simply takes a whole lot more to bring the American economy down that it did in 1929.
The people cannot defeat terrorists by themselves. They are not equipped to handle the threat, nor are they predisposed to do so. We have to live our daily lives and earn a living, how can we aid the governmnet in the war against terror beyond our vigilance and determination not to give into the fear the terrorists wish to instill in our hearts? We need to give our government the mandate it needs to wipe out terrorism globally (at least to a manageable degree) so that we can get back to the business of living the American Dream. I know what Dean Cascio calls me when I say these things, but he is wrong. It is not cowardice to equip the government with the necessary means to combat our enemies for our personal safety and security, it is in fact bold and requires much faith that the government will not abuse the powers we give it. Our enemy has resolve to see us destroyed, we need to show our enemies that we have resolve equal and greater to their own. I don’t think Americans should have to put up with the threat of terrorism out of a greater fear of our own government. Only brute force can stop the terrorists. Hamstringing our government…..not allowing it to take off the gloves…..is far more dangerous in my mind. America has survived a bloody Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement, World Wars, the divisions of Vietnam, and has grown into a more resolute nation despite these great difficulties. I am supremely confident that we can do so again in the face of global terror. If we allow this war to escalate into a quagmire of internecine conflicts all over the world, we will lurch toward world government faster than if we don’t make sacrifices now by giving our government what it needs to prevent such a hell inspired scenario from coalescing into reality.
Phidippides:
The Pearl Harbor theory you were talking about is nothing but Revisionist History at its finest. Pearl Harbor was a fateful event that triggered the mobilization for all out war. The American people were primarily pacifistic still remembering what happened to Europe in World War I. Americans were more worried about the Great Depression than Europeans, Chinese, and Japanese armies beating each other 's brains out. But when news of Pearl Harbor reached American homes, all that mentality went out the window. Comics soon cropt up depicting the Japanese as monkeymen wearing glasses and buck teeth and a racial hatred against Tokyo was born. Many Americans did not understand what Hitler was all about nor did they know what he intended to do with the Jews.....of course (sadly) many Americans remained disaffected by Europe's convulsions and disinterested in the plight of the Jewish people. I am not bashing America when I say that we engaged in a racial war to the death with Japan. Read Studs Terkel's The Pacific War to see just how racial the Pacific Theater became.Trojans were really Greeks….Dardanaian Greeks. The Romans, even though they revered Greek culture, they wished to foster the view that they had triumphed over it and had been competing against it for hundreds of years. There was no better way to illustrate this than by linking themselves to the greatest of the Greeks’ enemies–the Trojans. If you remember your Greek mythology, Aeneas the son of Anchises was also the son of Aphrodite. Achilles was the son of the goddess Thetis (daughter of Nereus a cousin of Zeus) and mortal Peleus. Sarpedon, who fought for the Trojans and was killed by Ajax was a son of Zeus. So what we have is a fratricidal war between the children of the Greek gods and this is how Homer depicted the war.
Nemesis and Joey:
Perhaps the idea that Islam's Reformation has to be as violent and extravagant as the Christian Reformation phase leads to a false premise. Reforms can be gradual and phased or they can be spontaneous and overtly inflammatory. Right now, Islam seems to be unified against the West and its corruptive influences. Islam will not make reform a priority until it no longer feels so threatened by the West. So in a way, we decide when Islam will find the time to turn inward and seek reforms. If this happens in Iraq it would be remarkable, but don't hold your breath. Iran may eventually prove the fertile ground for reforms since it has been the the most stringent enforcer of Islamic Sharia. I would put my money on reforms occurring in Tehran first. But so long as the notion that America is the Great Satan flourishes, Islam will remain stagnant in its hatred for the West and the U.S. in particular. The Protestant Reformation occurred after the Muslim threat was turned back from Europe via the Battle of Granada in Spain and by Ivan Dracul in Transylvania in the late 15th century. With no surprise, the focus shifted to heresies and the theologically deviant groups fostering them. So long as there was war with the Saracens, Moors, and Turks, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Zwingli et al. would have to wait their turn on stage.On a related note – Donnie, I have read only a bit of your thesis rough draft so far, but I was wondering if you thought the same spirit of the Great Awakening in South Carolina influenced it when it seceded from the Union. As it was the first state to secede, it was made of bold, probably fiery people. The South Carolina secession document is an interesting read.
South Carolina was the slave state most dependent on the practice. It had the largest black population and the most to lose if Lincoln and the Republicans ever decided to abolish slavery. Therefore, more Fire-Eaters (pro-secessionists) would have popped up there. Ironically, the ministers in South Carolina (and the Deep South as a whole) wrote adamantly about the doctrines that supported slavery. All the passages where the Bible says "Servants obey your masters," were emphasized over and over. The Plantation Gentry were far too influential in South Carolina politics for South Carolina to go in any direction other than secession. Sadly, I do not think the Awakening (1st or 2nd) had much influence on the secession movement. I think secular motives dominated the logic. Your notion probably carries more weight in the North where Lyman Beecher, his daughter Harriet Beecher Stowe, William Lloyd Garrison, and the Grimke sisters forced a religious debate over slavery which galvanized the abolition movement and free-soil movements that pushed the South to secede. So perhaps, South Carolina resisted the influence of the Awakenings and the North succombed to it. I'll go on record as saying that the Great Awakening and the Second Great Awakening affected Northern Culture more than Southern since Slavery nullified its effects. However, after the Civil War, the evangelical legacy has remained entrenched more in the South than in the North where Industrialism, Catholicism, and Urbanity overwhelmed the evangelical movement begun by Jonathan Edwards, Gilbert Tennent, Theodore Frelinghuyson, and James Davenport. So depending on what time period you are talking about, the Awakening waxes and wanes for both sections. For now, the Awakening's legacy is more evident in the Bible Belt than the Rust Belt.Prussia was the foundation of the Nation of Germany. This guy
Frederick the Great, started the Prussian enterprise. He fought the Habsburgs of Austria in the War of the Bavarrian Succession during the mid eighteenth century. By 1872, the Prussians were arguably the dominant military power in Continental Europe and actually defeated the French under Louis Phillipe (Franco-Prussian War) and took Schleswig and Holstein away from Denmark. The Prussian generals learned how to use railway transport techniques to muster their troops from the American Civil War. James Longstreet and Thomas Jackson were heavily studied as to understand offensive and defensive tactics. The Junkers (the Prussian military aristocracy) were the ruling elites who gave rise to Kaiser Wilhelm II who led the new nation of Germany into World War I. Cool stuff really. 😀I don’t know if Islam must necessarily go through a Reformation period or if it is a Dark Ages religion. Islam is overtly dogmatic yes, but there are various sects within it namely Shia, Sunni, Wahabi, Sikh etc….Furthermore, Islam is not a monolithic religion, it takes on both secular and messianic properties at the same time. I think what we perceive as “Dark Ages” is the reactionism Islam displays againt Western technology via our industrialized free market capitalist societies. Consumerism is perceived as a hedonistic sin in Islam and this mentality stunts the admission of new technologies and progessive thinking in Islamic nations. However, this is not to say Islam is adverse to science and advancement all together, it’s just that these advancements must not be contradictory to Islamic Law (Sharia). Traditional societies frown upon new things that seem unnatural to their heritage or threatening in some way. Christianity is no different from Islam in this respect, and we have seen Christian nations who rejected Christianity all together for secular humanist philosophies (Revolutionary France and Russia). Similarly, we have seen Islamic nations go secular in Egypt and Jordan but these nations are relatively poor in natural resources and educated civilians which keep them lagging behind in development. As a matter of fact, Islam just happens to be in nations where the natural resources are either short in supply or are the type that leads to over dependence such as oil (very similar to how cotton dominated the South in American history). I could cop out here and say that it was simply the luck of the draw, but I won’t. I mean, Ethiopia was once a Christian empire known as Abyssinia, but it never rose out of what we call the Dark Ages so it remains poor and fractured ethnically to this day. So we see the same things happen to Christian nations as Muslim nations. We have Amish and Mennonite sects who utterly reject modernity so the tradition has a Christian element as well. Fundamentalist Islam jealously guards tradition and heritage. Fundamentalist Christiantity does about the same….with or without a Reformation. I believe most Muslims are aware of Western technology, understand it, see its usefulness, but reject it openly because it promotes materialism, hedonism, declining morals, promiscuity for sensual pleasures, and the devaluation of life. We in the West have failed to export our advanced culture to them because many of our actions have proven their suspicions true….this and the fact that their despotic leaders have over emphasized our failings. It holds true as well that democracy does not have the rich history in the Middle East that it has enjoyed in Europe and America. So this fact heavily contributes to their Dark Ages, but beyond all this, Islam has unified the Arab people and sciences such as Algebra and the abbacus come from them. Avicenna and Averoes, Saladin, Sulyman the Magnificent, the Ottomans, 1001 Arabian Nights, the Quran (as literature) are all great accomplishments not to be belittled by our modern standards. But yet, I will concede that Islam is its own worst enemy…..especially in its modern manifestations.
Sadly, I believe the Bush administration has enough on its table at present. If there was no war on terror, Iraq, Katrina etc….he might have nominated a more overtly conservative and controversial candidate. I really don’t think we need a knock down drag out fight over the Court. Yes, I would have liked to see Priscilla Owens or Janice Rogers Brown or even old Bork put up there just to see the Liberals squirm, but Alito is as conservative as we really need, and will follow Chief Justice Roberts’s lead. We must look to other pressing matters right now and pick our fights.
I’m sure the truth is stanger than the fiction. But I believe we bagged the real Rudolf Hess. Conspiracy nuts are still saying Hitler was never found in his bunker and somehow got away to South America etc….What about Jim Morrison still alive in Paris somewhere or Elvis? It makes for a good story, but only for those who don’t like the outcomes of history. The Nazis did try to enlist the Irish against the British by offering them independence. It didn’t go over thank goodness. Got to give the Germans credit, they could be creative and diabolical…..it is a wonder they didn’t win despite Hitler’s madness.
Islam never forgets the past….no matter how far back in time the offense against Islam occurred. The Ottoman Empire by the time of World War I was nicknamed “The Sick Old Man of Europe.” It had seen its zenith in the 15th century and had been in decline ever since, but it took World War I to finally force its collapse. It only goes to show that all things must end someday, and even America will decline and crumble if given enough time. 😥
The Romans revered Greek culture above their own. Vergil wrote the Aeneid trying to show that Rome was founded from the remnants of Trojans who fought against the Achaian Greeks. The Trojans were offshoots of Hellene civilization, therefore, Vergil wished to link the glory of Rome to the glory of Greece. The Romans adopted the Greek pantheon of gods and goddesses and Latinized their names…..Hera became Juno, Zeus became Jupiter, Ares became Mars, Aphrodite became Venus, Hephaistos became Vulcan, Cronos became Saturn, Dionysius became Bacchus etc…..The Romans were masters at assimilating other cultures and adding their distinctiveness to their own kind of like the Borg do in Star Trek. Think of the Romans as the Borg of the Ancient World and the Greeks as the Federation. 😀 Don’t use that analogy on a test or paper…..I don’t think you would score too many points with it. 😕
Nemesis:
Women are voting in Iraq and Afghanistan and constitutions are in place where tyranny once ruled. Give the American people credit.....they understand that the war on terror is being fought overseas instead of in Anytown, U.S.A. and we are exporting democracy to nations who would never have known it otherwise. The people also understand that too much has been invested to turn back now. Vietnam was a war based on a flawed premise (the Domino Effect) and in a nation where strategic interests for the United States was a hard sell......in sum, who cared if communism took over Vietnam? Most Americans didn't even know the slightest thing about Vietnam or where it was, much less care about the plight of its people. Furthermore, Vietnam was such a foreign culture, we could not socially identify with the people of the region and when they tried, they just lumped them in the same category as the hated Japanese who even as late as the 1960's was hated by World War II veterans and others of that generation. The Middle East has oil....an American interest, and Israel which many Americans view as our best ally and the land of the Bible. We can culturally identify with this region and our cause is liberating people from bad religion and tyranny....a concept far easier to grasp than a political science theory based on faulty premises. Does this help? ❓I think the Bork and Thomas confirmation hearings galvanized the conservative base to win back the court. Now that the opportunity has arrived, we are seeing conservative judges being nominated who have pedigrees the liberals cannot question….though they will try. In the end, conservativism will regain control of the Supreme Court and the Liberal ideology will lose its last bastion of power. We are seeing the end of Liberalism as we know it…..and a short enough reign it was not. 😆
Frederick the Great, started the Prussian enterprise. He fought the Habsburgs of Austria in the War of the Bavarrian Succession during the mid eighteenth century. By 1872, the Prussians were arguably the dominant military power in Continental Europe and actually defeated the French under Louis Phillipe (Franco-Prussian War) and took Schleswig and Holstein away from Denmark. The Prussian generals learned how to use railway transport techniques to muster their troops from the American Civil War. James Longstreet and Thomas Jackson were heavily studied as to understand offensive and defensive tactics. The Junkers (the Prussian military aristocracy) were the ruling elites who gave rise to Kaiser Wilhelm II who led the new nation of Germany into World War I. Cool stuff really. 😀
