I had an opportunity to sit down and speak with Dr. Akan Malici, professor of Political Science at Furman University. We discussed ways in which U.S. government officials can potentially ameliorate tensions between the United States and rogue nations. One point that his article, “Rogue States: Enemies of Our Own Making?” focuses on is “unmaking” the enemy by altercasting. Altercasting is, “treating the Other in a desired way” where another country will reciprocate one’s kind gestures.
We also spoke about the current desire of Americans to respond diplomatically as opposed to militarily. Furthermore, Dr. Malici ends the interview by stating that the United States is a great country, but how do we remain so?
Listen to the entire interview below.
I would have to agree with Dr. Malici that past attitudes toward “rogue” states has not been beneficial to the United States. If anything, “going after them with a stick” has caused us to pour insane amounts of money into causes, leaving us with the choice of running large deficits and increasing the national debt, or having to consider making cuts in desperately needed domestic programs. And not to forget, it has continued to make relations with these countries all the more volatile. I care about the manner in which foreign policy is presented to us and the information given, because the ramifications cannot only be costly, but deadly.
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