Postmodern World and Global Challenges Study Guide
Post-Cold War Challenges to Peace and Collective Security
Collective Security: Defined as a system where everyone should work together and put whatever country is acting out of line back in its place.
The First Gulf War: Cited as a primary example of collective security in action following the Cold War.
The UN and Rwanda (): * Genocide: Defined as occurring when one people group tries to eliminate another. * Involves the conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi groups.
The Balkan War (): Characterized by the practice of Ethnic Cleansing.
Postmodern World Context ()
Defining Characteristics of the Postmodern World: * Different voices are welcomed. * The world is more democratic. * Art becomes more open and less restricted compared to the constant search for the "new" that defined modernism. * Increased global interconnectedness.
End of the Cold War: * Military conflict continued into the before ending. * The U.S. (liberal capitalist) democracies won the struggle against communism. * The current difficulty lies in determining right and wrong in politics, as there is no longer a clear communist opponent to fight against.
Reagan & Gorbachev: * Reagan intended to increase military spending for war. * Gorbachev wanted to pull back military efforts to provide for the basic needs of his people. * The Soviet Union lacked the resources (money) necessary to continue fighting.
Collapse of the Soviet Union: * Former Soviet-aligned or constituent nations included Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Yugoslavia, and Romania. * The impulse for independence among smaller nations spread into the Soviet interior. * The Soviet Union collapsed completely and was gone within years.
Post-Collapse Era: There are currently no rules; identifying "good guys" and "bad guys" has become difficult.
Global Security and Authoritarian Threats
United Nations Evolution: * Did not function very well during the Cold War. * When Iraq invaded Kuwait, the UN acted to put them back in their place. * Associated with the concept of a "New world order." * A major factor in these interventions is the desire for cheap oil.
UN Intervention in Somalia (): * Occurred after the government there collapsed and civil war broke out. * Humanitarian aid: The UN (primarily the U.S.) sent food due to national famine. * Military involvement was required because troops had to be sent in to protect the food supplies.
Terrorism and the War on Terror: * : Orchestrated by Al Qaeda and O Sama Bin Laden. * Impact on the U.S.: This was the first time the country was hit in this manner at home. It Altared how we think about security, specifically regarding airport protocols. * Nature of the Enemy: Al Qaeda is a terrorist organization rather than a specific country, which makes responding difficult. * Homeland Security: Focused on the question of how to protect the nation internally.
Afghanistan (): * Conflict against The Taliban. * The government was easily conquered, but troops remained for years to suppress terrorists. * Nation Rebuilding: The process of taking a dysfunctional nation and rebuilding it to be a liberal capitalist democracy. * U.S. struggles with nation rebuilding because of an attempt to turn other nations into versions of the U.S. * The United States is perceived by some as a political, religious, and cultural threat.
Second Gulf War (): * The Iraqi government was easily conquered. * Motivated by the belief that Iraq was developing WMD’s (weapons of mass destruction) and that Iraq was friendly with Al Qaeda. * Men are still stationed there today as the U.S. hasn’t fully left.
Major Authoritarian Challenges: * China: Expanding through trade as the largest manufacturing empire. China plays the long game using state subsidies to produce and sell goods cheaply. There is no freedom; the population works constantly. of trade passes through the South China Sea. China is making massive investments in Africa to gain economic power. * Russia: Putin seeks to reform the Soviet Union (as he was a Soviet). The invasion of Ukraine was expected to be an easy win but has proven otherwise. * Iran: Presents challenges to Western ethical and moral values through a fundamentalist understanding of Islam. It lacks equal rights and seeks dominance in the Middle East while spreading Islamic values. * North Korea: Ruled by the grandchild of the founder; described as a strange place with the least amount of freedom of all these nations.
Nuclear Proliferation: of these authoritarian nations possess nuclear weapons, and is currently working on developing them.
Globalization: Interconnectedness and Interdependence
Globalization: Defined as the process by which ideas, cultures, people, and businesses spread across the world, creating an interconnected and interdependent world through global exchange.
Characteristics of the Interconnected World: * Extreme isolationism is difficult to maintain. * Specialization: Countries focus on specific industries or resources. * Dependency on rare earth minerals (raw materials from other nations). * Importation of skilled labor, such as doctors from India and Pakistan. * Shifts between manufacturing and service sectors, and between skilled and unskilled labor.
Migration and Demographics: * Birth rates are dropping, leading to a shrinking population. * Economic challenge: Determining how to pay for things as the global population shrinks. * Migration Factors: A combination of Pull factors (what draws one to a place) and Push factors (what makes one want to leave).
Food Security: * Problems exist in transporting food to where it is needed. * Surplus in nations like the U.S. (e.g., turning excess corn into fuel). * Dependency on trade and export markets leads to year-round availability of seasonal foods. * Monocrop Agriculture: Farmers specialize in only one crop and must obtain everything else elsewhere.
Energy and Environment: * Continued reliance on oil and gas. * Environmental Degradation: Includes habitat loss and pollution. * Technology Transfers: Global movement of solar, wind, and nuclear technologies.
Technology and Information: Provides a voice to people from remote or smaller nations who previously could not be heard.
Disease: Globalization facilitates the spread of illnesses like Influenza, AIDS, and Ebola.
Postmodernism: Epistemology and Knowledge Frameworks
Modern vs. Postmodern: * Modern: New ideas that explicitly rejected the old. * Postmodernism: New ideas that are more open to the old and accept what came before.
Epistemology: Defined as the study of how people know things.
Historical Epistemological Frameworks: * Pre-modern: Open to supernatural explanations for phenomena. * Modern: The foundation of knowledge is human and naturalistic; it is not rooted in God. Key to high culture is the autonomy of human knowing. * Post-modern: Humans are considered finite beings who think and reason out of a specific and limited cultural framework or "interpretive community."
Postmodern Epistemological Shifts: * In academia, there is a belief that truth should be pursued with religious methodology as the foundation of that pursuit (e.g., historical explanations for the Salem witch trials). * Truth and certainty are no longer assumed to be possible or even desirable. * Methods are shaped bu particular languages and cultures and cannot guarantee a foundation for truth-seeking. * Universal truth is rejected; what is true for one culture or person may not be true for another. * Distinction between "Your truth" and "My truth."
Christian Response: Reference to John . Believers hold that there is a truth to come to; while they cannot know absolute truth, they can move toward it.
Postmodern Thought: Nature, Art, and Truth
Modernity becomes mainstream: Represented by Pablo Picasso and his self-portrait from .
Populist and Inclusive: Postmodernism is more open to the public and accepts wide-ranging artistic ideas rather than being a closed-off culture of artists.
Rediscovering Nature and the Past: * Reimagining the past and classical forms rather than requiring total novelty. * Example: Zuzanna Czebatul, Heracles, Zeus, Prphyrion, Alkyoneua, Athena, Ge + Nike, .
Questioning Truth: Inquiry into whether truth claims or statements are real and if any truth claim can be unervally accepted. * Example: "The confessions of Nat Turner" – One might admire him for rebelling against slavery but not for those he killed. * Contextual Example: Ancient aliens live.
Religious Thought and Moral Therapeutic Deism in the West
John Paul II and Roman Catholicism: He was the first Pope in a long time who was not Italian. He stabilized the church during a shaky period.
American Evangelicals and the Religious Right: These groups refer to themselves as the "moral majority."
Religious Decline in the West: * Collapse of Christianity in Western Europe: Monthly church attendance is very low at only . * United States: Only of the population attends church or more times per month.
Moral Therapeutic Deism (MTD): A contemporary religious outlook characterized by five main points: 1. God exists, created the world, and watches over it. 2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other. 3. The central goal of life is to be happy and feel good about oneself. 4. God is not involved in one's life unless needed to solve a specific problem. 5. Good people go to heaven when they die.
Signs for Hope: The current generation is less satisfied with "do it yourself" Christianity, and there is a potential rediscovery of faith even in places like Britain.
Postmodern Literature and Narrative Perspectives
Interpretive Flexibility: * Literature can be read in many ways with many meanings. * Historical context and the author’s intent are deemphasized. * There is a belief that one cannot read a book "wrongly" and any meaning is provisional. * Readers bring different prejudices that can distort the clear intent of the author.
Notable Authors and Works: * Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Associated with Magic Realism, where the setting feels real but may include magical elements like ghosts. Famous works include One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in Time of Cholera. * Alice Walker: Author of The Color Purple (), which focuses on an African American woman, perseverance, sisterly love, and redemption. * Orman Pamuk: Author of My Name is Red (), a murder mystery spanning days told from the perspective of the victim. * Toni Morrison: Author of Beloved. * Tom Holland: Author of Dominion.
Postmodern Art, Architecture, and Deconstruction
Architectural Trends: Combining multiple styles and pulling together old elements. * Philip Johnson: AT&T (New York) – referenced as the "Batman" building. * Harold Washington Library (Chicago). * Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao, Spain). * Deconstruction: Architecture that changes appearance based on the angle. Examples include the Seattle Public Library (looks different depending on angle, position, and time of day) and the Walt Disney Hall (Los Angeles).
Postmodern Art Characteristics: Draws from many cultures and contexts, often embracing older traditions like realism, classical styles, and impressionism. * Brian Dettmer: "The Book: a Contemporary View" (sculpture). * Joseph Kosuth: "Clock" – incorporates pictures of clocks and definitions to deconstruct what a clock and time are. * Gerhard Richter: Neorealism; famous for "Betty," which is hyper-realist and looks like photography. * Carlo Maria Mariani: "The City" and "Chimerico" – Neo-Renaissance and classical focus. * Richard Estes: "Downtown" – Realism. * Romare Bearden: Uses collage while incorporating his cultural background. Works include "Sunday after Sermon," "Jammin’ at the Savoy," and "The return of Odysseus" (which sets the Greek event in an African and Egyptian context). * Anselm Kiefer: "Osiris and Isis" (looks at Egyptian myths and post-WWII Germany) and "Golgotha" (watercolor with cubist roots). * Peter Blake: "The Meeting" or "Have a Nice Day, Mr. Hockney," () – a recreation of an old painting. * Fernando Botero: "Dancing in Columbia." * Jacque Derrida: Associated with the theory of Deconstruction, which posits multiple meanings in works.