Leaders of the political sphere are able to maintain control by manipulating how "knowledge" and "truth" are defined. I will provide an assessment of the post-modern approach to global politics in the works of Said, Foucault, Nietzsche, Dalby, Rochlin and the Venezuelan documentary “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”. The lack of a single “truth”, may make people more likely to inquire on the behaviour of authority figures, but also allows for the rationalization of action that, under the modern epistemology, would not have been entertained. Edward Said’ “Orientalism” states that the views of the orient (Middle Easterners) by the Occident (Europeans) are constructed in a manner to justify control through a veil of superiority over these
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This foreign policy is not unlike that of Europe 's view of the Orient, where a foreign intervention as an engine to “civilize” the orientals was used as a justification for infiltrating foreign territory. A mission to liberate and “develop” foreign regimes and cultural systems introduced development as the vail for modern orientalism. A view into current Western media shows an intensifying volume of terrorist images attributed to Arab nations or actors. Media is the new tool; used to convince society of the inferiority and problem of “Orientals”. Creating a black and white image of ‘US vs Them’. A portrayal of the people of the Middle East as vastly different from “us”, is crucial in obtaining public support in the postmodern political agenda. The assumption is made that “we” are better, allowing for government to operate as if their intentions are to liberate the people of middle eastern nations such as Iraq and Afghanistan rather than to attain the resources of these lands. An even greater pitfall is posed in the utilization of todays Orientalism when oppression leads to backlash. Construction and inflation of radical militant groups such as Al Qaeda, Hamas,
This foreign policy is not unlike that of Europe 's view of the Orient, where a foreign intervention as an engine to “civilize” the orientals was used as a justification for infiltrating foreign territory. A mission to liberate and “develop” foreign regimes and cultural systems introduced development as the vail for modern orientalism. A view into current Western media shows an intensifying volume of terrorist images attributed to Arab nations or actors. Media is the new tool; used to convince society of the inferiority and problem of “Orientals”. Creating a black and white image of ‘US vs Them’. A portrayal of the people of the Middle East as vastly different from “us”, is crucial in obtaining public support in the postmodern political agenda. The assumption is made that “we” are better, allowing for government to operate as if their intentions are to liberate the people of middle eastern nations such as Iraq and Afghanistan rather than to attain the resources of these lands. An even greater pitfall is posed in the utilization of todays Orientalism when oppression leads to backlash. Construction and inflation of radical militant groups such as Al Qaeda, Hamas,