Among the commentary on the terrible events last night and this morning, I’ve heard several people on the “talking heads” programs lament that with all of the advertising and marketing talent in the West and in the United States in particular we haven’t been able to come up with a counter-narrative with the power to convince those who hate us to change their minds and to deter people from rallying to the banner of the haters.
IMO that reflects an almost complete misunderstanding of what’s happening in the world which can be summed up in two words: we won.
There’s no need to come up with a counter-narrative. The gospel that we’ve been preaching at least for the last 70 years has swept everything before it. Monarchies are teetering on their last legs. Communism has collapsed under the weight of its own inconsistencies—what the Chinese are practicing now isn’t communism, it’s fascism, state capitalism with a nationalistic and racist slant.
What we’re seeing is a last, desperate gasp from traditionalists trying to hold on to a romanticized past. There will always be a few.
My recommendation is enough with the death wish. We have no need of embracing those who want to kill us. Let them kill each other. But don’t abandon a victorious strategy to pacify our enemies.
Fortress America: Build a wall to keep ’em out, expel the ones already here, and bring the boys & girls home.
Decades of meddling in the MENA region accomplished far less than nothing. Time to admit we don’t know what we’re doing and get out.
Agree there is no need to preach and would add at times these efforts have been counter productive as this old NY Times article shows. However, the need to appease the varied factions of the party in power make a hash of all this.
BTW, ever notice how much the “perfect message/narrative” crowd sound like street corner fundamentalists when the message flops.