Now, I am a long term clandestine (my favorite word ever!) fan of the NCIS:LA series that feels embarrassed about liking it so much, cannot get enough of watching it but has ended up loathing certain episodes. One of the things that I have come to find interesting on the show is their view on foreign policy. I want to make it absolutely clear that I am more than aware of the fact that this is a show that plays around with reality and that the viewpoints expressed in the show do certainly not express the view of the people behind it. Having said that, I still believe it offers an interesting insight into American foreign policy.
I having an affinity for acquiring strange hobbies and one of the things that interest me randomly is American foreign policy. During the last presidential election, it was the issue I put most focus on researching and forming an opinion on. And today I read an article on NBC news that stated that Obama was busy with trying to rebuild America's reputation within Europe that had been badly impacted by the Iraqi War. It'll take time, I can tell you that much. Also it was losing its credibility as a leading world power.
This got me thinking about NCIS:LA and their affinity for weird foreign policies. One specific episode comes to mind which confused me greatly. It was episode 2x19 which dealt with Venezuela. In the episode Nell stated that a man that was preparing to step forth as a presidential candidate for his country was pro-American which was a rarity. She also went unto explaining that Venezuela had ties with Iran which was very bad apparently.
At that scene my brain was in a muddle and this episode continues to confuse me
For one thing, is being pro-American really a rarity? From what I can tell, the biggest majority of the countries in the world have a pro-American stance. Of course that does not mean that we (speaking as a Scandinavian) approve of all of America's actions (I know I can think of a few things I do not like) but we are certainly all America's allies and work with the country diplomatically. My own country for example shares a very positive relationship with America and I am assuming that is not a rarity.
Secondly, does Venezuela really have ties to Iran and if it does, does that really pose a threat to America? No South-American country has ever attacked USA in recent decades. And if it is bad that Venezuela has ties with Iran, wouldn't that by definition mean that all countries that have ties to Iran are bad countries and pose a threat? Does a connection to a specific country automatically make another country bad and an enemy?
And then what about Russia? Scandinavian countries all have very positive and respectful communication and ties to Russia and there is mutual friendship between the countries. Would that then make Scandinavian countries bad, even if they also have a good relationship with USA?
At the end of the day, how do we define who is an enemy and who poses a threat? What measures do we use to tell? And what the precise difference between being pro-America and anti-America? Would it make me anti-American that I criticize racial relations and history within the country, the Iraqi War and that I do not agree with their view on foreign policy, drones, gun laws and many other issues. Does it make me pro-American that I consume the culture on a daily basis, know the language, have traveled there and am a big fan of American literature and love researching the history of the country and find it very fascinating?
At the end of the day, where do the lines lie?
NCIS:LA is certainly not a poltical commentary and it should not be. It is entertainment. But it does give cause to think. When, in episode after episode, national security is threatened from countries abroad ranging from Germany and France to Ethiopia, can anyone that is not American really be trusted? Are all other countries just out there to get Americans? Does everyone pose a threat on some level?
It is a hypothetical muddle but I find it interesting. Who is enemy and who is not. How do we define loyalties between countries and who can be trusted?
And since I am the topic of foreign policy and. TV and NCIS:LA loves pulling the crazy European card why not go all out? Why not future Scandinavian enemies (except Norway for obvious reasons)? Or better yet, have a band on European villains that all come from tiny European countries, that have the common goal to prove to America that little countries can hold power as well. I am thinking along the lines of having Malta, Iceland, Faroese Islands, Luxemburg, Lichtenstein, San Marino and all other small European countries unite to create a bigger European power.
You see, the possibilites are endless and everyone is a potential enemy! It is just a matter of being creative.
But could you NCIS:LA folks please have an episode in the future where the agents actually cooperate with foreign intelligence agencies instead of constantly viewing them as threat? Because not everyone is crazy.
Re the Venezuala episode and American Foriegn Policy. Let me explain it. A bit atleast. Basically for the easy understanding, America stands for Super Power, upholder of Democracy and the winner of the Cold War. So any country which does not uphold Democracy, is its natural enemy. Any country that tries to challenge its Super Power Position by not worshipping it or try building Military Warfare or Nuclear Technology (even for Peaceful Ecomonic Activities), becomes its Threat. Any country that was not part of its Camp in Cold War and was either neutral or was ally to USSR was its natural target for destruction of that country.
ReplyDeleteI am Indian. And I have grown up almost loathing USA for its foreign Policy that made them look so stupid. Why ? Because of the same 3 reasons. It always tried to interfere and meddle in diplomatic relations of my country and ensured that we were constantly destabilized by our neighboring country Pakistan. India was a democracy, so we could not be USA's enemy, but we belonged to Non-Alignment Group of the Cold War. This challenged them as independent thinking country, so we became a threat. And soon they started using Pakistan's hate relationship with us for their advantage to keep spying on us. So seeing this threat, India befriended USSR closely. So now we became marked supporter of Soviet and yet we were a democracy and non-aligned to both the super powers. All we wanted was support from another super power in case USA attacked or annexed us through Pakistan attacks on the border. Already we had wars with them previously. And this was not all. Soon we were investing ourselves in Nuclear Technology. That again became an issue to USA and we were imposed economic sanctions for that. So when I was growing, I saw all that Cold War movements and impact on our country's position in the UN. We were forcibly made to lose part of Kashmir to Pakistan as POK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir) which is still a burning matter to us. There was a lot going on in those days as USA stepped into Middle East as well, trying to destabilize them because the Middle East would not listen to them. How could they, USSR and Europe had more Muslim population than USA or its Western European allies could ever understand them. And USA's support to Israel openly was not a help either. Everyday in international News there was a trouble brewing in one part of the globe. Iran and Iraq, Libya, all these did not become overnight threats. They became like that due to America's interference and resistance to stay away trying to rule the world by hook or crook. It needed to be the Reigning Super Power at any cost.
But that's besides the point. What I wanted to write was why in those NCIS LA episodes, we have anti-Venezuela, France and Germany feelings. Because, Venezuela like Cuba and all those Latam countries opposed democracy and had drug cartels running the country. And they refused America's leadership on them. Only the Latam and China refused to participate in Cold War, albeit they had Communist or Dicatorial rules. They were a threat to their power and economy PLUS America had to show its GOOD Image to UN and others that it worked for better Humanity...so fighting Drug Cartel rules countries was undoubtedly good cover fpr them when America was seen as Destabilizing force seen in Middle East and countries like India.
Why France and Germany are disliked by America ? That's because of WWII fall-out. Germany was always considered USA's enemy, but France was the enemy of UK and it controlled as many colonies as UK controlled before WWI and during WWII times. So when UK became USA's friend, France automatically became its enemy. Moreover, France started developing Nuclear Technology which was not liked by USA. France also had more independent streak and so it would not allow USA to meddle in its home affairs or international affairs. This ofcourse upset USA.
There...I explained some. Let me know what you feel now.