The Enemey Is Not Human, Rieff

• The following section is drawn from the book Slaughethouse - Bosnia and the Failure of the West (1995) by David Rieff


• Rieff concedes that all sides in the war committed atrocitites


• But he comes down hard on Serb leaders and on Western nations for failing to curb their aggression


• The slaughter of Bosnia is the story of defeat


• War has its laws, and soldiers, at least when they are failthful to their codes, rightly claim thiers to be an honorable as well as a terrible calling


• If Bosnia proves anything it is that this is a shameful lie


• 200,000 Muslims died in Bosnia in front of the world's tv cameras, while 2 million more were displaced


• A State formally recognized by the European Community, by the U.S., and by the UN was allowed to be destroyed


• The slaugter was led by a group of extreme Bosnian Serb nationalists


• They succeeded through a campaign of propaganda and terror


• Ethnic cleansing in Bosnia was about methodically humiliating a people and destroying their culutre, as well as killing them


• A crucial factor in their success was convincing the Serbs they were an injured party


• The waves of UN officials who went to talk to the leader Radovan Karadzic proved to be a hopeless exercise


• Over the years Karadzic and other Serb leaders learned that the Un and the great powers were not going to lift a finger to stop them


• With the world community supine, the Serb leaders only had to win a propaganda war among thier people, which they did surprisingly well


• In reality, the victory of the ethnic nationalists was not inevitable


• They won because of what they did, and because of what others did not do - particularly the West - not because history was on thier side


• They won because the idea of Greater Serbia was coherent in a way that the idea of the Bosnian state never succeeded in becoming


• Because the Serb fighters had 100 guns for every one the Bosnian side had


• They won because they knew how to take old fears and complaints, repackage them, and cause otherwise decent Serbs to commit genocide

Glinkina: Crime and Corruption

Main Idea: The liberalization of the Soviet Union provided high governmental officials and top managers with an opportunity to take advantage of the system to reap huge profits. The police force also deteriorated and organized crime became a huge part of Russian life.

Organized Crime
An estimated 200,000 active criminal groups existed in Russia by the mid-1990s.

Retail markets in every Russian city are controlled by gangsters who collect a share of the revenues of each vendor.

It is estimated that from 1992 to 1994, over 20 percent of the petroleum output and one-third of the metals production were smuggled out of the country.

At one point, 70% of the raw materials shipped from Russia by rail through Lithuania never reached their legal destination, Kaliningrad. Railway personnel and costums officials conspired in these operations.

Government information indicates that roughly 70 to 80 percent of banks, as well as state and private companies, make payments to recketeers and corrupt officials.

Due to the access to former KGB operatives and the fact that law enforcement was lax, the cost of a professional murder in Russia is low.

Privatization
Most enterprises were privatized by the mid-1990s.

The first phase of "official" privatization entitled individual Russians to vouchers that were redeemable for cash or a share of industry. Criminal elements began to collect these vouchers through various means. With the vast amounts they collected, these groups bought up most desirable enterprises at giveaway prices.

Corrupt privatization aggravated Russia's financial woes, as the state disposed of valuable assets at extremely low prices.

The Oligarchs
A young, unscrupulous economic elite known as the oligarchs now controlled much of the Russian economy.

They were able to use their influence to influence government appointments and sway elections.

From the outset, the oligarchs have been reluctant to invest to modernize production.

The wealth of Russia was shunted abroad.

Illegal capital flight has also helped them shield their gains from taxation, undermining the capacity of government to finance itself adiquately.

STEPHEN SPENDER'S EUROPEAN WITNESS

Thesis: In Stephen Spendler’s account of the German city of Cologne, he describes a city and a people devastated by the war and struggling to make any sort of recovery
I. Few buildings remain habitable, most are empty
II. Thousands walk through the rubble that used to be the “hub of the Rhineland, with a great shopping center, acres of plate-glass, restaurants, a massive business street”
III. “The external destruction is so great that it cannot be healed and the surrounding life of the rest of the country cannot flow into and resuscitate the city”
IV. The people do not resemble residents, merely wanderers
V. The unscathed cathedral gives the city hope
VI. The destruction is a remarkable achievements of modern society in cooperation between several nations
VII. The city, held together by numerous civilizations for centuries, has died

Arbatov: New Russia

Russian economist Georgi Arbatov describes the tragedy of perestroika: it created too little incentive for the transition to a free market system, yet cut social services too much for the government to serve the Russian people.

Obvious that the old system is not functioning

Yegor Gaidar proposes a “Chicago school” program (so named after the influential group of U. Chicago economists who advocated laissez-faire)

Results: disastrous.

Some problems: inflation, loss of social benefits, lower quality of life

Losing pensions

Tremendous increase in medicinal prices

No social services: Education falling precipitously

Less access to culture: books, movies, etc.

Widespread corruption throughout the system

"The way of ordinary Russians has deteriorated remarkably."

Thomas Friedman's Globalization as An International System

Thesis: New York Times journalist, Thomas Friedman, maintains globalization is an international system only arrived at post Cold War. This new system also contains its own rules, and logic, and it influences our politics, environment, geopolitics, and economics for every country on the planet. Friedman thus notes the true international quality of our new economic system.

• Main difference between now and previous eras is the new degree and intensity with which the world is tied together into a single globalized marketplace.



• Previously, pre-1914, nations had been left out of globalization. It was now entirely global.



• New global system also different both technologically (previous era built around falling transportation costs, modern era built around falling telecommunications costs), and politically.



• Falling of tellecommunications costs makes success easier for smaller countries and even individuals.



• Globalization has replaced the Cold War as the defining international system (like the Cold War the new system has its own structure of power, has its own rules, has its own dominant ideas, has its own perspective on the globe, has its own defining technologies, has its own defining measurement, has its own defining anxiety).



• Nonetheless, Globalization stands almost completely opposite in many qualities.



• Cold War about division, Globalization about unity (unity aided by new technologies of communication)



• Driving idea of Globalization is free-market capitalism



• Globalization not "frozen," like Cold War system; rather, it is a dynamic ongoing process.



• Globalization has a culturally homogenous culture, as opposed to Cold War separation



• Globalization has defining technologies different and more advanced than those of the Cold War system



• Last, and most important, Globalization has its own defining structure of power that is much more complex than that of the Cold War system, which relied on the balance between the US and USSR.



• Balance of globalization resulted from 1. traditional balance between nation-states; 2. system lies between nation-states and global markets; 3. Balance of individuals and nation-states.

New Russia: "The Negative Consequences of "Shock Therapy" Capitalism" Arbatov

“The Negative Consequences of “Shock Therapy” Capitalism “ Arbatov

Thesis: As a Russian economist, Arbatov accurately elucidates the poor effects of shock therapy capitalism upon the Russian economy and its people.

· Previous economic system was horrible and extravagant

· Yeltsin took charge of the economic development and the country yet there remained problems with “administrative command” system

· Yegor Gadar with the approval of Yeltsin implemented the “Chicago School” program which launched this program to “inject laissez-faire capitalism immediately into Russian economy”

· Results include the decline of their economy, poor GDP ratings, inability to compete with own domestic markets, inability to make technological and scientific advances, and the “pauperization” of the Russian people

· Criminals ran rampant while the standard of living ceased to be stable de to inflation, increased salaries lagging behind price rises, and decline of birth rate and growth in death rate

· Millions lacked needed medical care and common materials and accessories became luxury goods

· Thus, education deteriorated immensely and culturally, access was limited for financial difficulties were abundant

· Likewise, govt aid disappeared while trade unions vanished

· “The Majority are fully immersed in day to day fight for survival” due to fact that “the country is being robbed of its wealth”

This passage helps explicate the ideas that capitalism and western style economics don’t always provide beneficial affects for all who adopt it

Perry Document- Violence and Xenophobia in Germany- Joachim Krautz

This is Wills Brooks' work not mine.

• Economic growth of Federal Republic of Germany brings in foreign workers (from Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia, etc.)



• Immigrants very quickly make up a sizable portion of the population.



• Resentment leads to backlash of native Germans, racial and xenophobic attacks, neo-nazi groups



• Petrol bomb attacks by skinhead, new age fascists/nationalists occur against outsiders



• Nationalism of any sort was looked down upon in the 60s,, 70s, and early 80s



• East Germany had more patriotism and excessive nationalism due to the discontinuity the government had with the 3rd Reich.



• Provided fertile ground when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, attracted conservatives to National Socialism



• Leaders of Neo-Nazi groups threaten "foreignization," encouraging over perception of immigrant numbers



• West Germans held resentment about ex-Communist Eastern counterparts



• Insidious beliefs and concepts extend to non-affiliated Germans, causing drastic misconceptions about numbers of foreigners



• Right Wing exaggerates problems caused by immigration, level much criticism at the Turks due to their cultural differences



• Unemployment and dissatisfaction again give converts to the radical right wing



• Right wing extremism hurts big business, measures are taken by business to make a good foreign image for Germany



• Xenophobic, rascist and eugenic ideas remain in Germany



• To solve problems, pragmatic action must be taken to solve real problems

Global Tensions

Thesis: The shifting geopolitical climate caused by things such as overpopulation, the Rich-poor gap, climate change, and cultural divides, is likely to drastically influence how states deal with conflict as it shifts to being internal as opposed to external.

x- Geostrategic conflicts have continued to some extent post Cold War and may continue to have a strong significance in international conflict- military competition will revive efforts to gain territorial power

x- Most fights will be between civilizations, not necessarily nations, as fault lines are created between cultures

x- Many of the biggest threats to global stability are not definable in geographic terms, spreading discord creates great stresses on many (things such as economic woes, the Rich-Poor gap, religious competition, etc.)

x- Ric-poor gaps are creating fissures among societies as poor masses are becoming increasingly resentful of the wealthy and being attracted to violent gang activities or ethnic strife

x- The erosion of state authority and rise of group identity is creating a new form of ethnic strife that easily sparks conflict- this is only made worse by advances in communication which certain political groups use to their advantage.

x- Rapid population growth is threating world food supplies and creating international tension as states seek to curb immigration and protect their own remaining assets

x- Greenhouse warming is leading to resources scarcity that greatly affects poor countries that cannot handle the damage- additionally, it raises the risk of ethnic conflict as resource scarcity causes groups to fight one another

x- The new forms of international security are likely to shape conflict in a way that makes military power almost obsolete as states shift to dealing with internal, as opposed to international, wars

"Priests, Doctors, and Teachers Turn Genocidal" by Mahmood Mamdani

Mamdani reflects on the atrocities which occured during the Rwandan genocide of 1994:

• People associated with professions that value and nurture life were involved in the killings
• These people were convinced with the idea to kill the minority group and they were also forced to kill or they might be killed themselves
• Teachers, Priest, and Doctors all took part in the killings
• Hospitals, Schools, and Churches which are thought of as places of safe haven were places where a majority of the murders took place. Tutsis came to hide in these places but others were willing to turn them over to the Hutus
• Even Human Rights activists killed people
• It is shocking that the people involved feel little remorse for their heinous actions

The Clash of Civilizations

Thesis:

x- Politics have become multi polar after the Cold War and humans have become increasingly interconnected- this is similar to old Western alliances and competition that existed after the 1500s when states fought one another and colonized others

x-Many people have questioned their identity and attempted to define it with cultural values, this is causing non-Western states who are growing in stature to reject Western values

x- Cultural conflicts are occurring increasingly and have the potential for escalation as other nations support their kinsmen

x- Many of these cultural differences have roots in the economic and social developments of many states

x- The West's power relative to the rest of the world is declining as other Non-Western states are modernizing and have their own ideals that conflict with the West.

x- The West is now tasked with preserving its values and incorporate states such as Latin American and Central Europe into the West to achieve this goal, but resist intervention at all costs

"India's Resentment of the British" by Jawaharlal Nehru

Nehru, an Indian nationalist during the 1940's alongside Gandhi, blames British economic exploitation for India's continued poverty:

• The British were allowed free reign to rule over and exploit India
• Although the railways and steam engines modernized the country, they also helped consolidate British rule and helped to exploit the interior of the country
• The British acted as feudal landlords and used India as if it were their own estate. The millions of Indians working functioned as tenants of the landlords
• The Indian newspapers talked only of British life and included nothing regarding the Indian people
• English clubs were exclusive and most of them refused Indian members
• Racism was prevalent in India with many segregated areas designated for "Europeans Only"
• The British markets were closed to Indian goods but the Indian markets were flooded with British products made from Indian resources. This situation crushed Indian manufacturers and caused a lot of Indians to lose their jobs
• The British hindered India's industrialization and forced it to be a agricultural nation
• All of these measures result in the widespread poverty in India

"The Evils of Colonialism" by Frantz Fanon

Fanon, a modern critic of colonialism from the French West Indies, discusses the oppresiveness and dehumanization of European colonialism:

• The colonies are split into two parts: the European side with all the resources and luxuries and the native side which is much worse off
• The police of the colonies enforce peace through their weapons and violence
• The natives always look to the European town with envy and they dream of all of their possessions
• The colonies show forms of segregation based on race
• The settlers believe the natives to be evil because their culture and their ways are different from the Europeans
• The Church is a way for the European to oppress the native

"Report to the Twentieth Party Congress" by Nikita S. Khrushchev

Khrushchev discusses his thoughts on the worldwide struggle with the western capitalists and pleas for peaceful coexistence of the two systems until the communists eventually win:

• After World War II the western powers became reactionary and militaristic. They enforced their will on other countries.
• Their imperialism show their aggression towards the socialists
• The U.S. forced the U.S.S.R into an arms race and a "Cold War" because of their aggression
• These western countries also forced other countries into military pacts and blocs such as NATO
• The "anti-communism" slogan is being used as a cover up for their plans of world domination
• The United States "aid" to recently independent nations is only a ploy to make those nations dependent on the United States while Soviet aid is welcomed and loved by the eastern European countries
• We must peacefully coexist with the capitalists until the communists inevitably win out

Imperialism's Benefits By An Anti-Imperialist African

Thesis: The imposed order by the Europeans united the African states by creating a new form of nationalism form them to all identify with one another and create a common goal for African people to work towards.

x- Humanitarian feeling resulted in a suppression of the slave trade

x- Europeans ended tribal wars when they imposed new order over the African individuals- they improved tribal connections, communication, economic systems, and allowed for creation of new economic classes

x- Tribalism began to end as Africans respected one another by their common labor as workers

x- The new industrialization granted by the West allowed for more invigorated nationalism

x- The European policy can best be described as White Supremacy, this caused a united movement to overthrow white domination out of desire to participate fully in the country's government

"The Iron Curtain" by Winston Churchill

Churchill discusses his beliefs on the duty of Western democracies regarding the "iron curtain" which was a line that divided the U.S.S.R dominated Eastern Europe and the democratic Western Europe:

• It is understandable that the U.S.S.R wants to protect its western borders with buffer states in order to protect itself from any renewal of German aggression
• The U.S.S.R controls all of the capitals of the ancient states of central and eastern Europe including Warsaw, Berlin, and Prague.
• All of these countries are subjects under the control of the powers at Moscow
• The Communism in these countries are producing totalitarian control and police governments
• The West must fight for a free and liberal Europe which they fought for in World War II
• We must settle with our Russian friends to ensure a free Europe before a catastrophe overwhelms the whole world

By Myles Anderson

Hannah Vogt: The Burden of Guilt (1961)

- Written during a resurgence of anti-semitism when German teachers began to teach the history of Naziism again

- she believed that trust could only be reestablish if Germans faced the passedthrough self-examination adn repudiation

Excerpt from the conclusion of The Burden of Guilt

- a nation must learn from its past, esp. Germany

- Greeks new that if people in a nation stopped being free and ruling themselves, a tyrrant would take over

1. all people should be educated and participate in politics

- lack of political participation allowed Hitler to gain power

- People must be patient with steady progress, not hope for sudden miracles

- people must constantly control the power of those in charge

- parties should seek maximum cohesion

- a respected opposition party is necessary

- law must be based on justice

- international politics should be balanced and consistant

1. Hitler had made and broken treaties without care

2. He had also thought that force was the only useful method for international politics

- they have to deel with the challenge of reunifying Germany after Hitler split it

- they need to regain the trust of other countries

- although they can never get rid of the past, they can shape a peaceful and prosperous future

- they should respect human life and remember the dead who suffered because of Germany's past actions

1. they should not try to minimize these crimes

- they must welcome those Jews who were beginning to return to Germany at that time

By Myles Anderson

Hannah Vogt: The Burden of Guilt (1961)

- Written during a resurgence of anti-semitism when German teachers began to teach the history of Naziism again

- she believed that trust could only be reestablish if Germans faced the passedthrough self-examination adn repudiation

Excerpt from the conclusion of The Burden of Guilt

- a nation must learn from its past, esp. Germany

- Greeks new that if people in a nation stopped being free and ruling themselves, a tyrrant would take over

1. all people should be educated and participate in politics

- lack of political participation allowed Hitler to gain power

- People must be patient with steady progress, not hope for sudden miracles

- people must constantly control the power of those in charge

- parties should seek maximum cohesion

- a respected opposition party is necessary

- law must be based on justice

- international politics should be balanced and consistant

1. Hitler had made and broken treaties without care

2. He had also thought that force was the only useful method for international politics

- they have to deel with the challenge of reunifying Germany after Hitler split it

- they need to regain the trust of other countries

- although they can never get rid of the past, they can shape a peaceful and prosperous future

- they should respect human life and remember the dead who suffered because of Germany's past actions

1. they should not try to minimize these crimes

- they must welcome those Jews who were beginning to return to Germany at that time

Enoch Powell- Bringing the Immigration Issue to the Center of Politics

During the late 1960’s, a great political issue in Great Britain became the influx of immigrants from old colonies. Enoch Powell was the leading spokesman of those in favor of suspending immigration and assisting in re-immigration. He delivered the following speech in Birmingham (UK) in 1968 against the Race Relations Bill:

· Anecdote of a man approached Powell and told him that this country was not worthy of his children

· In fifteen or twenty years from 1968 there will be 3.5 million Commonwealth immigrants and their descendents

· How can this be stopped/reduced? Stopping further inflow and promoting maximum outflow

· It is like watching a nation busily engaged in heaping up its own funeral pyre

· There is nothing wrong with coming to study in Great Britain then leading the ways back to the old Commonwealth countries, like many doctors do, but this is not immigration

· Families should not be divided, but they will be able to reunited in their native countries with re-immigration

· Every citizen in GB is equal before the law, so the influx of immigrants causes an unequal distribution of first and second class citizens

· The Race Relations Bill will make it illegal to discriminate by color, race, or ethnicity

· However, this bill is only going to bring in more immigration, taking away the rights of original British citizens and increasing the population past its given equilibrium point

Jorg Haiger, "Multiculturalism and Love of One's Country"

(This is Maclin Davis' work. He is having difficulties with the Blog so I am posting
this for him.)

1. Comparisons and similiarities and the racial assimilation of multiculturalism
2. If one looks around the world, he'll find negative results of inclusion of other races within a nation. (civil unrest usually, violent quests for national independence- Eastern Europe) or the haphazardness of a "melting pot" society- United States
3. Say "Yes" to starting a family; this institution will cause less need for a nation to spur on independence to bolster its economy and keep the country less stagnant
4. Austria as a nation should be hospitable to others, but it is by no means a hub for all downtrodden peoples of Europe to come seeking for shelter, as no nation should be
5. The 12 points system in Austria ("Austria first"), laws very restrictive of "foreigners" and xenophobic in thinking their presence in a nation is in itself a seditious act.

Harvel - "The Failure of Communism"

Harvel's speech to the people is honest and tells them the horrible state that the country is in. He goes on to tell them that the new government will need the help of the people to fix the country. He hopes that the new country will be free and that as much as the government serves the people, the people will serve the government.

I. The Truth Unvarnished
a. Previous Communist leaders lied to the people about prosper and success.
b. Harvel will not lie to the people; he admits what a terrible state Czechoslovakia is in.
c. The state humiliates the works it is supposed to support, its economy is poor, and its education system is lacking severely, and the environment is almost toxic to life.

II. Learning to Believe Again
a. The moral of society are poor because people lie, don't trust each other, and are selfish.
b. "The concepts of love, friendship, mercy, humility or forgiveness have lost their depths and dimension, and for many of us they represent only some sort of psychological curiosity or they appear as long-lost wanderers from faraway times, somewhat ludicrous in the era of computers and space ships."

III. Cogs No Longer
a. Communism has turned the people of Czechoslovakia from people to machines, slowly wearing themselves out.
b. It was not just the Communists who brought on the Totalitarian regime, the people helped support it by accepting it and adjusting to its ways. The people must accept the fact that the Communist regime is part of their heritage and not something from another country. If they accept it as their own, they can understand it.
c. The President and the Parliament cannot fix the country by themselves, after all democracy and freedom mean that participation by the whole population.

IV. Recalling Ruined Lives
a. The freedom gained by the Czechs came at a price, thousands of people died in prisons and were driven out of the country.
b. Human suffering affects all human beings, without the events in the Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary, and the German Democratic Republic, the events in Czechoslovakia could not have happened.
c. Only the people now can fulfill the hope of democracy.

V. A Humane Republic and The People Hold Sway
a. Harvel hopes that the new republic will be independent, free, and democratic. He also hopes that man will serve it as it serves man.
b. The government of the people has returned to them.

THE HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION- Andor Heller

-A student demonstration in Hungary on October 23, 1953, sparked a Hungarian revolution.

-The communists were ousted and Imre Nagy was placed in power.

-The Soviet retaliation was crushing and killed thousands, as well as drove 200,000 people into exile.

-Janos Kadar was instated and created a new type of economy called "goulash communism"

-The determination and zeal of the Hungarian people was valiant, and 14 demands were put forth by the citizens and other activists.

-The A.V.H. was a Russian-controlled Hungarian secret police

-The Hungarians would refer to the revolution of 1848 to boost morale

-A huge group of Hungarians attempt to pull down the statue of Stalin and are then fired upon by the A.V.H.

- There were four days of freedom in Hungary, before 6,000 Soviet tanks, 200,000 soldiers, and a "tidal wave of lies" reclaimed Hungary.

Molovan Djilas - The New Class

Djilas describes the way that communism has created a totalitarian oligarchy contrary to its idealistic goal of collective rule.

Rise of the Political Bureaucracy

The status of the Communist Party as the backbone of politics, economics, and society gives it complete control over the citizenry

Party members become the ruling class and have almost limitless power

“the so-called ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ inevitably evolves into the dictatorship of the leaders

Individual Freedom

Individual freedom must be in the interest of the socialist system, so the freedom of individuals is thus completely subject to party leaders

Violations of human rights can be justified by their subjugation to the state’s wellbeing

Parliaments and other institutions that claim to represent the citizenry are merely perfunctory

Economics

The communist economic system is designed to maintain the party’s power by putting the economy under the control of the state

Though originally party leaders steered the economy towards idealistic and communal goals, their aims quickly devolved into selfish ones

Islamic Terrorism

Thesis: Islamic fundamentalists rose as a result of perceived Western imperialism on their lands and in their cultural systems.

x- The advancement of the modern world has caused a rise in religious extremism and fanatiscism

x- Multiple deadly wars have been waged upon the regions normally populated by Islamic individuals in addition to the collapse of democratic institutions, rise in nationalist rhetoric, and failing economies- this caused many to place the blame on the West.

x- The West was now seen by many as a greedy, materialist society

x- Failed government and the presence of elites who wished to benefit from the suffering of the middle class caused popular discontent and anger

x- A rise in Arab nationalism often polarized around confronting Zionism- they felt as if they had been cheated and that the Jewish state was a means for the West to maintain its imperialism

x- The Iranian revolution served as a model for many other repressed Islamic states- it provided an instance of the lower class toppling a Western backed regime with an anti-imperialist rhetoric

x- The Iranians tried to export their revolution in the Iraq-Iran war- this same view of the world is tied intrinsically to the terrorist attacks of 9/11

x- Afghanistan also served as a chance for radicals to express their frustration by fighting against an intervening foreign power

x- The establishment of organizations such as the Wahhabi program drastically altered the Muslim world and began to create instances of extremism- Bin Laden's efforts to wage war against the West and the failed efforts to stop him only made him gain more influence

x- Bin Laden's expertise in business as well as his practical considerations have allowed him to stay influential, but many Muslims disagree with the severity of his message

x- The two most important sources of Muslim inflammation were the treatment of Palestinians by Israel and the belief that the Israel lobby influenced American foreign policy in addition to the notion that Western influence was corrupting authentic Islamic values.

The Betrayal of the West

Thesis: Friedman's analysis of world civilizations lead him to conclude that Western technological innovation, energy, and respect for individual liberty was the cause of world wide political transitions.

x- Western thinkers often criticize their own nations while forgetting they were the source of beneficial political reforms worldwide

x-Western cultural intrusion, while harmful, was the key factor in advancing the idea of men protecting their own personal freedom- from the Greeks to the Romans, we see a growth in intellectual and institutional liberty as Western society progressed

x- Many current day political shifts worldwide are a direct result of the West as states are moving away from past means of determining freedom such as wealth

x- The West's technological power and range of values for justice allowed it to give the world the energy it needed for reform

The Lingering Appeal of Fascism

Thesis: Hasselbach's descriptions of the Neo-Nazi movement indicate a continuation of the deep seated racial anger towards certain minorities such as the Jews and how it drove horrific, racist movements.

x- Son of Communist elite in East Germany, Ingo Hasselbach, was exposed to he idea of a Jewish conspiracy while in jail for petty crimes- led to creation of the Neo-Nazi movement

x- Many Right wing conspiracy cells shared the belief in 1. a Jewish conspiracy and 2. a hatred for the government for infringing on their rights as Aryans

x- Dedicated members of these movements often had little sympathy for the deaths of innocents such as children- they all united under common propaganda

x- Many veterans of the past Nazi movement influenced the Neo-Nazi groups by teaching them to recognize and discriminate against groups such as Jews

x- Rich benefactors such as the widows of deceased Nazis provided benefits to these movements

x- Groups such as the HNG, the Help Organization for National Prisoners, were established to help encourage imprisoned, young Nazis to continue in their efforts

x- Old individuals were practically free from political consequences and indirected implied taking extreme measures to disrupt society

x- Some members of the movement would lead exercises where they practiced butchering straw effigies of Jews and complained about how the Jewish conspiracy had stolen their land from Germany.

European Witness- Devastation and Demoralization from WW2

Thesis: Stephen Spender paints a sad picture of the demoralized German people under Allied occupation shortly after the end of the war.

• There was not a single house left in Cologne; standing walls but gutted interiors


• Only three hundred habitable buildings left.


• Thousands of people trudge all day long, who once lived prosperously only a few years ago, but no more.


• Cologne used to be the heart of the Rhineland with shopping centers, restaurants, theaters, etc.


• The Destruction of Germany is different than the worst that has happened in England


• People are scarred there, but not destroyed, it will heal


• The external destruction is so great that it cannot be healed and the surrounding life of the rest of the country cannot flow and revive the city.


• The people are parasites sucking a dead carcass, just trying to survive


• They are like a tribe of wanderers that has discovered a ruined city


• The city smells and looks like a corpse


• One feels haunted by the ghost of tremendous noise from explosions


• The undamaged cathedral amidst the rubble retains Cologne's character.


• The destruction is a discouragement to everyone living and working in Germany


• The city is dead and the people only inhabit the cellars like rats


• So much progress of civilization is destroyed.


• The destruction of the city itself is a reproach to the people who go on living there.

Thomas L. Friedman: “Globalization as an International System”

Rob Edwards

Thomas L. Friedman: “Globalization as an International System”

• Thomas L. Friedman is a foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times

• His main point is that “globalization is an international system that has now replaced the old Cold War system, and, like that Cold War system, globalization has its own rules and logic that today directly or indirectly influence the politics, environment, geopolitics and economics of virtually every country in the world.”

• Although there has been globalization for many centuries, the world is different today in the degree and intensity with which the world is being globalized

• The pre-WWI era of globalization, while still significant in its magnitude, left out most developing countries, and was very small compared to today

• Today's globalization is not only different in degree, but has technological and political differences as well

• Rather than globalization being dependent on railroads an automobiles, it's now propelled forward by microchips, satellites, fiber optics, internet, etc.

• People can now offer and trade services, as well as manage business on a global scale, all from one computer

• Friedman describes globalization “as an international system – the dominant international system that replaced the Cold War system after the fall of the Berlin Wall”

• By this, he means that the Cold war had its own structure of power, which was the balance between the US and USSR

• The Cold War also had its own rules, foreign policy, dominant ideas, demographic trends, etc.

  • The Cold war system influenced the domestic politics, commerce, and foreign relations of virtually every country in the world

• Today's era of globalization is a similar international system, with its own unique attributes that are in stark contrast to those of the Cold War

• Whereas the Cold War world was defined by who you were divided from and allied to, the globalization world is defined by who you are connected to

• Whereas the Cold War world was frozen in its ways, the globalized world is ever changing, developing, and expanding

• The driving idea behind globalization is free market capitalism

• The nation states, like the USSR and US, were the focal point of the Cold War system. The new globalization system deviates from this pattern

• Most importantly, the globalized world has its own structure of power

• There is also a crucial balance between nation states and global markets, as well as between nation states and individuals

• The modern world today is a trifecta of relations between states, Supermarkets (not the grocery kind), and Super-empowered individuals

Thomas L. Friedman: “Globalization as an International System”

Rob Edwards

Thomas L. Friedman: “Globalization as an International System”

• Thomas L. Friedman is a foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times

• His main point is that “globalization is an international system that has now replaced the old Cold War system, and, like that Cold War system, globalization has its own rules and logic that today directly or indirectly influence the politics, environment, geopolitics and economics of virtually every country in the world.”

• Although there has been globalization for many centuries, the world is different today in the degree and intensity with which the world is being globalized

• The pre-WWI era of globalization, while still significant in its magnitude, left out most developing countries, and was very small compared to today

• Today's globalization is not only different in degree, but has technological and political differences as well

• Rather than globalization being dependent on railroads an automobiles, it's now propelled forward by microchips, satellites, fiber optics, internet, etc.

• People can now offer and trade services, as well as manage business on a global scale, all from one computer

• Friedman describes globalization “as an international system – the dominant international system that replaced the Cold War system after the fall of the Berlin Wall”

• By this, he means that the Cold war had its own structure of power, which was the balance between the US and USSR

• The Cold War also had its own rules, foreign policy, dominant ideas, demographic trends, etc.

  • The Cold war system influenced the domestic politics, commerce, and foreign relations of virtually every country in the world

• Today's era of globalization is a similar international system, with its own unique attributes that are in stark contrast to those of the Cold War

• Whereas the Cold War world was defined by who you were divided from and allied to, the globalization world is defined by who you are connected to

• Whereas the Cold War world was frozen in its ways, the globalized world is ever changing, developing, and expanding

• The driving idea behind globalization is free market capitalism

• The nation states, like the USSR and US, were the focal point of the Cold War system. The new globalization system deviates from this pattern

• Most importantly, the globalized world has its own structure of power

• There is also a crucial balance between nation states and global markets, as well as between nation states and individuals

• The modern world today is a trifecta of relations between states, Supermarkets (not the grocery kind), and Super-empowered individuals

The Liberation of Dachau, Gun

• In the closing weeks of the war, Allied troops liberated German concentration camps


• They revealed the full horror of Nazi atrocities to a shocked world


• On April 29,1945, American soldiers entered Dachau


• One of the liberated prisoners was Nerin E. Gun, a Turkish Catholic journalist


• He was imprisoned by the Nazis for his reports about the Warsaw Ghetto and his prediction that the German armies would meet defeat in Russia


• Gun describes Dachau in his book The Day of the Americans (1966)


• From a detour through the marshaling yard, where convoys of deportees normally arrived, American soldiers discovered some 50 cattle-cars


• "At first sight they seemed to be filled with rags, discarded clothing. Then we caught sight of hands, stiff fingers, and faces"


• The train was full of corpses, piled one on the other, 2,310 to be exact


• They were Hungarian and Polish Jews who had come from Birkenau


• Around the camp were the infernal sights of the thousands of living skeletons on the other side of the placid poplars

"In Defense of Appeasement" by Neville Chamberlain

These are Chamberlain's beliefs regarding appeasement and the Munich agreement:

• Chamberlain believes that peace at all cost is the best outcome since he still remembers the atrocities from the first world war
• He understands that the Czech government is hesitant but this agreement is the best possible outcome because a world war is avoided. Also Czechoslovakia can rebuild its country under more nationalism.
• Chamberlain was a big pacifist who did not believe in wars
• He believes that the German government will handle the situation very reasonably
• Chamberlain knows it was a hard decision but it saved " Europe from Armageddon"

Weizsacker- "We Seek Reconciliation"

In 1985, the President of Germany made a speech reflecting upon the Holocaust and Reconciliation
-On May 8, we must remember the Holocaust
-Remember the dead
-Remember the Jews
-Hitler was purely evil, and hate the Jews until the bitter end
-told his successor in his will to uphold the racial laws
-The deed was carried out by a small number, but ignored or supported by the masses
-People acted like they didn't know, but there is no way to be ignorant
-There is no such thing as guilt of a nation
-the guilt falls on the individuals
-Most Germans living today either had not been born or were small children during the atrocities of WWII
-They are not guilty, but their family names have been stained
-To move forward, we must accept the past and move on
-The Jews will always remember
-"Seeking to forget makes exile all the longer; the secret of redemption lies in rememberance"
-We must erect a memorial in our own feelings and hearts

Winston Churchill- "Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat"

In 1940, Churchill was able to use his extrodinary oratory skills to rally the British people for the war they had sought to avoid for 2 decades with 5 key speeches.
May 13
-We are facing many long months of struggling and suffering
-We must offer up our Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat
-To defeat Hitler, we must fight with EVERYTHING we've got
-What is our aim? Victory at any and all costs
May 19
-Old rivals (Britain and France) must join together not to save Europe, but to save humanity
-Many races will be exterminated "unless we conquer, as conquer we must, and conquer we shall"
June 4
-We will never fail
-We will never surrender
-We will never give up
June 18
-The Battle of France is over, The Battle of Britain is about to begin
-The full might of our enemy will soon be upon us
-If we win, Hitler will fall
-If we lose, humanity will fall
August 20
-British airmen are turning the tide of the war
-History is being changed by a small group of men
-we owe them everything

Omaha Beachhead

The invasion on Normandy was successful because the Allies controlled the air, the Germans were caught by surprise, and the first few hours were vital to the ultimate victory that day. The extract, published in 1945, created from first hand descriptions of the beach that day, highlights some of the factors on June 6, 1945:

• The amphibious landing crafts made a landing in sandbars about 50 to 100 yards from shore, and in some cases the water was neck deep
• The heaviest casualties were met just after landing. Some men dove under water or went over the side to escape the beaten zone of machine guns.
• Most men, after wading through tough and tiring waters, still had to make it 200 yards on dry land for any sort of shelter. Surprisingly, troops who stopped to organize, rest, or take shelter behind obstacles merely prolonged their difficulties and suffered heavier losses
• As a result of mislandings, many companies were so scattered that they could not be organized as tactical units
• Morale was low among all Allied troops because of such heavy losses of men
• 8:00 am – At three or four places on the four-mile beachfront, U.S. troops were already breaking through the shallow curst of enemy defenses
• The only great factor about the first two hours is that the Allies were not pinned down behind the sea wall and embankment
• A decisive factor was leadership. Wherever an advance was made, it depended on the presence of some few individuals, officers and noncommissioned officers, who inspired, encouraged, or bullied their men the first forward moves.

Y. Pfeffer, Concentration Camp Life and Death

Thesis: The Nazi concentration camps, where prisoners worked as slaves to supposedly help the Nazi cause, were incredibly brutal and almost a worse alternative to the death camps.

I. Prisoners were primarily Jews

a. Some true German criminals were also kept in the camps – more privileged and allowed to ruthlessly beat up and attack the Jews

i. Conditions for real criminals not nearly as bad

II. Mornings started at 3 a.m. with breakfast of one terrible cup of coffee at 6 a.m.

III. Guards taunted and beat prisoners for absolutely no reason

a. SS men found sadistic pleasure in the beatings

IV. Meals were so bad that not eating was almost preferable

V. Pfeffer claims that the work was pointless and unnecessary –simply a means of torture and making life miserable

VI. Prisoners always had to watch other prisoners be beaten – mental torture in addition to physical torture

Hitler, On Poland

Thesis: In Hitler’s own words the invasion of Poland would not have taken place if he had foreseen any resistance and if the pact with the Soviet Union had not taken place.

I. Hitler considers himself the greatest statesmen in the world

a. Stalin and Mussolini are the others (Mussolini is the weakest of the three)

II. Japan and Italy, according to Hitler, could not and most likely would not help him to the level that he wanted to be helped

a. Next best ally is Russia

III. Alliance with Russia

a. Opens up the opportunity to invade and take Poland

IV. Hitler saw a very likely lack of any kind of resistance

a. If Hitler thought that the war would have taken more than a few weeks he would not have invaded Poland

b. England an France will do nothing more than blockade Germany – not a big deal because now they have Russia

After Stalin died, Hitler planned on taking Russia exactly like he took Poland

Memories and Reassessments, Wieder

• In 1962, Joachim Weider, a German officer, who had survived Stalingrad and Russian captivity wrote "Stalingrad: Memories and Reassessments"


• He described his feelings as the Russians closed the ring on the trapped Sixth Army


• Wieder Recalled his outrage at Hitler's refusal to allow the Sixth Army to break out when it still had a chance


• As the German forces faced decimation, he reflected on the misery and death the invading German forces had inflicted on other people


• He assesses the terrible retribution Germany would suffer


• As the last days of our army were drawing to a close, a deep moral misery gnawed at the hearts of the men helplessly doomed to destruction


• Voices of conscience added to their indescribable external suffering


• Many officers and commanders now began to oppose the insane orders emanating from Fuhrer Headquarters


• By this they began to reject the long eroded military concepts of honor and discipline


• How shocked had we been then at he very outset of the eastern campaign


• two inhumane orders of the day that had been in open breach of international law, and of true, decent German soldiery itself


• Were all these excesses and evils not bound to rebound on us sooner or later?

"A Disaster of the First Magnitude", Churchill

• On October 5,1938, Winston Churchill delivered a speech in the House of Commons attacking the Munich agreement and British policy towards Nazi Germany


• I believe the Czechs left to themselves and told they would recieve no help from the Western Powers would have made better terms for themselves


• Peace has always depended upon the accumulation of deterretns against the aggressor


• Coupled with a sincere effort to redress grievences


• I ventured to appeal to the government to give a pledge that in conjunction with France would garuntee the security of the Czechs while the League of Nations examined the sudeten-deutsch question


• If that course had been taken, events would not have fallen into this disasterous state


• Britain, France, and Russia should have kept closer communications, which they did not


• It would have been easier to determine the attitude of Poland


• What is the remaining position of Czechoslovakia?


• So far this country has neither prevented German rearmament nor have we reaarmed ourselves


• "We are in the presence of a disaster of the first magnitude which has befallen Great Britain and France"


• Many people no doubt honestly believe that they are only giving away the intrests of Czechoslovakia


• I fear we shall find that we have deeply compromised, and perhaps fatally endangered the safety and even the independence of Great Britain


• Do not suppose that this is the end. This is only the beginning of the reckoning

Commandant of Auschwitz

Rudolf Hoess

Commandant of Auschwitz

Thesis:Rudolf describes the death process of Auschwitz, which focuses on the keeping the situation calm and he also recalls the words of those going to their death while reflecting on the scenes of life around those going to their death.

· Rudolf Hoess (1900-1947), the commander of the Auschwitz who was executed by Poland after the war, recalls the murder process

· Rudolf stresses the importance of keeping the prisoners calm at their arrival at the “cottage” which is the gas chamber.

o Individuals who seemed to express signs of alarm where taken and shot with inaudible gun to keep the situation calm

o Prisoners where told they were going to be disinfected

o A Special Department (Sonderkommandos) who were a special squad of prisoners

§ They picked over the corpses looking for gold and other valuables

§ They also kept the prisoners calm and aided in the process of preparing them for death

§ They kept the process moving quickly and even had to convince mothers to bring their children with them

§ At times they would come across their own family members but never produced instances

§ October 7, 1944 they attacked the SS and killed some and burned a crematorium.

· The Jews still knew what was happening despite efforts to conceal and Rudolf recalls several of their damning words and even acceptance of what was happening to them

· Rudolf remembers particularly the people walking to their death through orchard trees as a picture of death in the midst of life

· Particular incidences occurred in the sorting process where families where separated and Rudolf compares the Jews family ties to limpets

German Perspective on the Holocaust

Thesis: Richard von Weizsacker, the president of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1985, reflects on the Holocaust and the need for remembrance and reconciliation.

• May 8th is a day of remembrance. Remembering means recalling an occurrence honestly and undistortedly so that it becomes a part of our beings


• We mourn the dead of war and tyranny, especially the six million Jews murdered in concentration camps.


• Hitler never concealed his hatred of Jews from the public, in fact he made the entire nation a tool of it.


• Hardly any nation in its history always remained free from blame for war or violence, but the genocide of Jews is unparalled in history.


• Perpetration was in the hands of a few people, but every German was able to experience what his Jewish compatriots had to suffer, from plain apathy and hidden intolerance to outright hatred.


• Who could remain unsuspecting after the burning of synagogues, the plundering, the deprivation of rights, and the violation of human dignity.


• Whoever opened his eyes and ears knew that the Jews were being deported.


• The scope of the destruction is beyond imagination, but the attempt by too many people not to take note of what was happening. When the truth of the Holocaust came out, many of us claimed that they had known nothing about it.


• Guilt is never collective, it is personal; everyone in that era should ask himself about his involvement then.


• Today's children cannot expect to wear a penitent robe just because they are Germans


• But they must accept the past. Whoever refuses to remember the inhumanity is prone to new risks of infection.


• We seek reconciliation with the Jewish race.


• If we tried to forget what occurred, we would impinge upon the faith of the Jews who survived and destroy the basis of reconciliation.

Nazi Progaganda: for Volk, Fuhrer, and Fatherland

Thesis: These excerpts demonstrate how Nazi ideology influenced German troops with a religious fervor for the Fuhrer.

• The Fuhrer has saved the people from unemployment and from Jewish subversion


• Race-conscious Volk has arisen


• Only the Fuhrer can carry out what had not been achieved in a thousand years


• As long as we soldiers do our duty, the goal of the German Reich will be achieved


• We must believe in our final victory and in the future of our people and our Fatherland.


• Jews and Bolsheviks looks biologically similar to real humans, but in mind and spirit they are lower than any animal. Inside is a cruel chaos of wild, unchecked passions with a nameless will of destruction.


• Bolsheviks are the embodiment of Satanic and insane hatred against the whole of noble humanity.


• The goal of this campaign is the eradication of Asiatic influence on the European cultural sphere.


• The German soldier is an avenger of the atrocities which have been committed against him and the German people.


• German sense of honor and race is fighting an Asiatic mode of thinking and primitive instincts whipped up by a few Jewish intellectuals.


• Our mission is to save European culture from the advancing Asiatic barbarism.


• We fight against a tough opponent, the battle can only end with the destruction of one or the other; compromise is out of the question.


• We must and we will liberate the world from this Jewish plague.

Modern Ideologies at Odds with Christianity

Thesis: Nicolas Berdyaev, a Russian Chrisitian philosopher who fled the Soviet Union, recognized Nazism, Communism, and even nationalism as movements that threaten Christianity and only a return to piety will reverse these trends.

• We are witnessing the process of dehumanization in all aspects of culture and social life


• Moral consciousness is gone, man has ceased to have any value


• The youth of this world is anti-human


• Bestial cruelty is common in our age, which is more astonishing since it occurs at the very peak of human refinement.


• Barbaric instincts are filtered through civilization; it is a continuation of the war


• Everything for this war is permissible


• Inhumanity is presented as something noble, surrounded by heroism.


• No longer is every man viewed as having the image and likeness of God


• World is moved by race-ethics, nationalism, and the state instead of truth


• We are witnessing the paganization of Christian society, especially in Germany, which no longer wishes to be a Christian nation; has exchanged the swastika for the cross.


• The nation replaces God


• Nationalism involves the hatred of other nations; contradicts Christian brotherhood of man


• Man's inner world is at the mercy of collectivism


• When religious anti-Judaism becomes racial anti-Semitism, it becomes anti-Christianity


• True Chrisitians can not be racialists and hate Jews

Historical Division, War Department: “Omaha Beachhead”

Rob Edwards

Historical Division, War Department: “Omaha Beachhead”

• This excerpt is an official account of the storming of the Omaha Beach on D-Day

• The destruction and death toll was horrendous

• Most of the casualties came at the landing zones about a quarter mile out from the beaches, where soldiers were mauled by machine guns, bombs, etc. as they were leaving the boats

• Almost all of the sergeants are killed towards the beginning, which left thousands of leaderless soldiers scrambling for their lives on the beach

• There were obviously serious problems with morale, as many of the soldiers had never seen combat before

• The only reason the American forces succeeded at Omaha was because of a few brave men who decided to take charge and be leaders

Richard von Weizsacker: "We Seek Reconciliation"

Main Idea: Weizsacker is saying that Germans must come to terms with their individual role in the Holocaust and their personal guilt. They must remember their past atrocities in order to make the future a better place for all.

Remembering [the Holocaust and the deaths of 6 million German Jews] means recalling [the] occurrence honestly and undistortedly so that it becomes a part of our very beings.

The origin of this crime was in Hitler's hatred for Jews and he made the entire nation a tool of it

The day before his death, Hitler wrote in his "will," "Above all, I call upon the leaders of the nation and their followers to observe painstakingly the race laws and to oppose ruthlessly the poisoners of all nations: international Jewry."

The specific crimes of the Holocaust were directly committed by only a few people. It was concealed from the public, but every German was able to experience what his Jewish compatriots had to suffer, ranging from plain apathy and hidden intolerance to outright hatred

Who could remain unsuspecting of the Jews' plight after so many crimes were committed against Jews out in the open. Deportation would not have been surprising since so many Jews merely disappeared one day

There is no such thing as the guilt or innocence of an entire nation. Guilt is, like innocence, not collective, but personal

All people must accept the past. Anyone who closes their eyes to the past is blind to the present

William Hoffman- DIARY OF A GERMAN SOLDIER

-The complete faith in the judgement of Hitler can be seen in Hoffman's entries, "The Fuehrer's orders were read out to us. He expects victory of us. We are all convinced that they can't stop us."

-The Russian resistance gets stouter with each building that is taken, and the Russians are referred to as "fanatics"

-There is WIDESPREAD PANIC among the German troops as they begin to realize the magnitude of the battle that is at hand.

-The bogging down and slow realization of the number of casualties take a toll on the mindset

-The Russians began to refuse to surrender, and would only be taken prisoner if they were too wounded to move.

-German desertions grow as the progress slows.

-Starvation sets in and only finally is Hoffman's approval of the war completely wiped out.

William Hoffman: “Diary of a German Soldier”

Rob Edwards

William Hoffman: “Diary of a German Soldier”

• This is a series of diary entries from William Hoffman, a german soldier who perished at Stalingrad

• July 29^th, 1942 – he has been told that victory is right around the corner at Stalingrad

• In mid august, they reach resistance, which Hitler tells them is the Russian's last ditch effort

• As they approach Stalingrad at the beginning of September, they see the glow of the city and are told it's because the city is up in flames and that victory will be easy now

• Throughout september, the soldiers slowly realize that they are in for much worse of a fight than they though

• Then during october and november, the germany army is worn down time and time again

• Then throughout december, the soldiers become desolate and resort to things like cannibalism

• This whole article basically shows the extent that the German army officials tricked the soldiers into thinking they were winning in order to keep up morale about the Stalingrad invasion

PACIFISM IS THE DEADLIEST OF SINS- Horace Rumbold

-Rumbold, after reading Mein Kampf realized the extreme power or Hitler.

- Rumbold is justly alarmed by the developments in Nazi Germany, and warns against the extreme control that Hitler has over the masses.

-The propaganda of Goebbels is extremely effective, and he uproots everything that is traditional in Germany.

-The revival of militarism was facilitated by Hitler and Goebbels together, and had the advantage of synergy.

-Rumbold is desperately trying to warn Great Britain about the dangers of an aggressive Nazi Germany.

- Rumbold sees the tricks of Hitler in his negotiations, and is far ahead of the rest of the European politicians.