PART I: WHAT MOST CONCERNS YOU? PLEASE CHECK ONLY THREE. ___ 1. ___ 2. ___ 3. ___ 4. ___ 5. ___ 6. ___ 7. ___ 8. ___ 9. ___ 10. ___ 11. ___ 12. ___ 13. A clash of ideologies and political values will fuel conflict and instability in the world. The gulf between the developed and developing worlds will widen, making it increasingly difficult to address common problems. Increasing immigration will worsen strains in our society. U.S. jobs will be lost to other countries. Loose border controls will threaten our security. The United States will act unilaterally and the international community will turn against us. Nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons will proliferate and end up in the hands of terrorists. The United States will drain its resources trying to solve other countries’ problems. The United States will lose access to oil and other key resources abroad. U.S. troops will get bogged down in conflicts abroad. Damage to the global environment will become irreparable. More Americans will die at the hands of terrorists. Participation in international organizations will force the U.S. to follow costly or risky policies. PART II: WHAT BELIEFS DRIVE YOUR THINKING? RATE EACH OF THE STATEMENTS BELOW ACCORDING TO YOUR PERSONAL BELIEFS. 1=Strongly Support 2=Support 3=Oppose 4=Strongly Oppose 5=Undecided ___ In today’s interconnected world, many serious problems can be addressed only through international cooperation. ___ We will always have to compete with the world’s other nations for power. ___ Any nation acting alone has neither the moral authority nor the capacity to right the world’s wrongs. ___ The United States should not do business with countries that grossly abuse the human rights of their citizens. ___ Ourresourcesshouldbefocusedonaddressingpoverty,crime,andbudgetdeficitsathome. ___ Wehavenorighttodecideonourowntopressureanothercountrytobehaveinacertainway. ___ The greatest threat to our civil liberties comes from the limits we put on ourselves because of our fear of others. ___ Usingoureconomicandmilitarypoweraroundtheworldcreatesmoreenemiesthanfriends. ___ Trying to make deep changes in the way the world works is naive and dangerous. ___ As Americans, we have a responsibility to spread democracy around the world. ___ Freetradeandopeneconomiesarethebestwaytofostereconomicgrowthathomeand around the world. PART III: WHAT SHOULD WE DO? RATE EACH OF THE STATEMENTS BELOW ACCORDING TO YOUR BELIEFS. 1 = Strongly Support; 2 = Support; 3 = Oppose; 4 = Strongly Oppose; 5 = Undecided ___ TheUnitedStatesshouldspendwhatisnecessarytoremainamilitarysuperpower,evenif this means having less domestic spending, larger deficits, or higher taxes than we would like. ___ The United States should support broadening the mandate of the UN and other international organizations, even if this means we are bound by the decisions of this community of nations and cannot act unilaterally except to defend our homeland. ___ TheUnitedStatesshouldusemilitaryforcetoprotectaccesstooilandotherimportant raw materials, even if this places us in opposition to our traditional allies and the broader international community. ___ The United States should commit itself to the elimination of nuclear weapons, even if this means that we will need to rethink our defense strategy. ___ The United States should impose trade sanctions on countries that threaten their neighbors with aggression or contribute to the proliferation of nuclear weapons, even if such sanctions harm U.S. trade relations. ___ The United States should increase financial aid to countries where poverty and despair are creating the breeding grounds of discontent, even if money needs to be diverted from domestic programs. ___ The United States should help negotiate strict international standards to address global warming and other environmental threats, even if compliance forces us to pay more for cars, gasoline, and other products that contribute to pollution. ___ The United States should accept fewer immigrants, in addition to cracking down on illegal immigration, even if this deprives the American work force of the talent and ambitions of newcomers and fuels anti-American sentiments abroad. ___ The United States should use its military-alone if necessary-to stop gross human rights violations, even if this may isolate us from our traditional allies or the broader international community. FILM AS MEDIA The way a film tells its story can have as much bearing on how we understand the film as the words spoken and the action on the screen. This critically acclaimed movie by the renowned filmmaker Errol Morris examines issues of war and peace in the 20th century through the lens of one of the century’s pivotal figures. In The Fog of War, Robert McNamara offers his account of the century just passed, as he remembers participating in it, as well as his reflections on its meaning for the 21st century. He delivers his reflections with the conviction and intensity that marked his years as Secretary of Defense for presidents Kennedy and Johnson. THE INTERVIEW The Fog of War is a conversation with Robert McNamara drawn from more than twenty hours of interviews conducted by Errol Morris. Traditional interview technique would have Errol Morris and Robert McNamara talking together with a camera recording the conversation. Errol Morris has done hundreds of on-camera interviews over the years. Over time he became frustrated with the impersonality of the approach. To capture one-on-one conversation without the distance created by the third person (the camera) he invented the Interrotron. This device allows Morris to remain in a separate space while his image is projected onto the camera, talking directly with his subject. He is not competing with the camera for eye contact with his subject. In this way the subject is looking directly into the camera. It’s almost as if you the viewer are asking the questions. • Some contend that technology works at cross purposes with intimacy. Errol Morris developed the Interrotron not to dilute the intimacy of conversation but to intensify it. What do you think? What effect does the Interrotron have on Morris’ interview with McNamara and on your experience of it? • The movie’s epilogue shows McNamara driving in Washington rather than in dialogue with us. The voice is from a phone interview. What do you think is the significance of this?