The Age of Diplomatic Warfare

This past week, President Obama gave a speech in Cairo, speaking to the world and most specifically to the Muslim world. I believe he was successful in accomplishing what his goal was: to show respect to the Muslim nations and religion, and, ultimately, weaken the terrorist movements. If you look at it from the perspective of a “diplomatic war,” he launched a major offensive and succeeded.

Obama’s opponents say that it didn’t accomplish anything, that it’s all words and no action. That when you compare Obama to Bush, “Bush at least freed the Iraqi people.”
Well comments like that go to show us the lack of subtlety of these opponents. They don’t understand the power of “diplomatic warfare.”

For them, warfare is based on bombs, guns and the murder, or overthrowing of a leader or government. Let’s take a look at the US-led attack on Iraq in 2003. What was the goal? To weaken the terrorists. The Bush administration convinced us that Saddam Hussein was supporting terrorists and it was our obligation to overthrow the Iraqi leader’s regime. Many people and nations believed the lies they told and we took action. We used old-fashioned warfare to obtain our goal: weaken the terrorists.

Yes, we did “free” the Iraqi people from their leader. But at the cost of breaking many international laws, creating more hate of the US and the west amongst the Muslim communities, thousands of lives and trillions of dollars. And really, when you think about it, we didn’t even achieve our goal. We didn’t weaken the terrorists, we only strengthened their resolve to destroy even more. These are the ways and tactics of short-term thinking and old-fashioned warfare. It’s about breaking down the enemy at all costs, overtaking land, and no respect for those who think differently. It fosters more separation and hate, resulting in an unending cycle of destruction. You may win the battle, but the long-term consequences are frightening.

Now let’s take a look at diplomatic warfare. This type of tactic focus on the building of relationship, of acknowledging and respecting differences. The missions, or offensives, are mostly through words! So you may not see immediate results like you would when you bomb a palace and capture a leader, but you can see steady progress towards lasting peace, cooperation and mutual respect. Leading to the protection of land and resources and life.

Obama’s main strategy was very clever. If he can show those in the Muslim world respect, that he has taken the time to learn about their customs, that he doesn’t see them as his enemy and welcomes more dialogue and cooperation, then it will be more difficult for them to hate the US and its allies. It’s hard to hate someone who wants to understand you. Terrorism can only survive on hate. If there is less hate, then individuals might be more reluctant to support terrorists. This, in turn, will weaken the power the terrorists have on others and on the impact they are currently having on the world.

So, from the perspective of diplomatic warfare, you could say that Obama’s speech was perhaps just as aggressive as the illegal invasion of Iraq by the US and its allies. And this time, this offensive succeeded! Without a single death, without spending trillions of dollars and without creating deeper chasms between the US and the rest of the world. Just take a look what is happening in Lebanon and Iraq at this very moment.

The nation should be out in the streets celebrating. There should be parades!

What's wrong with sharing?...

Is anyone else as perplexed and discouraged by the current response to Obama, and more specifically by the “tea” parties and the complaining about taxes? Is it too much to ask for a bit of common sense? Are we that frightened and angry that we can’t see that Obama is simply doing his best to pick up the pieces of 30 years of a way of governing and doing business that has resulted in the mess we are in?

And is anyone else shocked by the strong resistance to contributing to the good of the whole? We keep hearing that raising taxes and supporting social programs makes people lazy and kills the creative, entrepreneurial spirit. Well, that’s just not true. That’s based on fear and inability to let go of control. It has been proven to work around the world. I have proof. I lived in the Netherlands for almost 18 years and I see how a more social system can both take care of those in need and support the uniqueness and success of the individual.

What ever happened to sharing? All religious and spiritual traditions advocate it. The Christian bible emphasizes the holiness in giving to others and sharing. We are taught as children that sharing is a virtue. And it is part of the blueprint of a society based on higher consciousness. Wouldn’t you say? So what are we so afraid of?

I think I know. I think it has to do with the fact that since 1948, we Americans have been so brainwashed that we can’t see reality anymore. We have been bombarded with images, propaganda, movies, TV, books etc. that have convinced us that the Soviet Union and China and any country that supported them were inherently bad and that their main objective was to destroy the United States and “the free world” (whatever that is…) We were told that Communism and Socialism was the way of the enemy, and anything that resembled these systems were evil. This was finally crystallized with Ronald Reagan’s speech in the early 80’s when he called the Soviet Union “the Evil Empire.”

Think about how brainwashed we all were. We either believed him or we actually let him get away with it. Clinical psychologists would call that sociopathic behavior, right? Yet, we accepted it as normal. And how could we not? Look at all the rhetoric and propaganda that was created to justify our actions at home and around the world. Look at the horror of the House Un-American Committee in the 50’s. Look at the destruction that the US created in Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America. All in the name of democracy and freedom. Look at all the movies and books of the 50’s and 60’s that all had to do with some kind of evil force from the outside, whether human or extraterrestrial, that tried to take over America and “American values.” Look at the proliferation of nuclear weapons creating a reality on this planet that no human being has ever had to face – complete annihilation. We had no choice but to be traumatized.

Well, times have changed. Now is an opportunity to wake up out of the 60-year nightmare and take a good look at the facts and common sense. The first thing we need to realize is that Communism and Socialism are economic systems and not political. The “evil” of the Soviet and Chinese regime was not how they distributed wealth, but the dictatorial, tyrannical tactics of power hungry, ideologically blinded men who had no problem murdering and destroying to maintain power. Communism doesn’t kill and take away freedoms, people do.

So, what we all should do is some soul searching and find a way to overcome our Pavlovian Dog response to the words Communism and Socialism, and realize that supporting and voting for programs that strengthen social programs and ask us to pay more taxes won’t annihilate us. And I’m not only talking to my Conservative brothers and sisters out there, but also to my Liberal ones as well. You may talk the talk, but look down deep and feel deep in your body how you still flinch when you hear the C word or the S word. When we can let go of this trauma and reactive response, we will see how powerful sharing is and see that an individual can be strong only if the entire community is strong.

Yes, it is possible to pay a lot of taxes and still follow your entrepreneurial spirit and realize your personal goals. It is possible to get welfare for a while and be a vital part of society. Yes it is possible to have governmental social programs and still have freedom. I know it to be true. I lived for 18 years in a country where it happens. And if you look at your statistics, the people of the Netherlands and Denmark (two examples of socially free-market societies) are the happiest, healthiest, and financially stable in the world. Look at the facts! And if you are one of those who say you don’t care how other countries do it, you are only interested in what is happening here in the United States, then remember – that’s sociopathic behavior according to clinical psychology.