Reflection #9

Security is not merely a state objective; it is a term whose universality guarantees that anything can be neatly denoted within its scope. Everything can be transformed into an issue of security, and if a state seeks to bolster its national stability, it will seek not only for scapegoats such as defense spending or rogue nations, but also for more obscure culprits. The Obama administration’s national security summary accomplishes this masterfully; while I do not intend to accuse the President of fear-mongering, there is a prominent difference between the confidentiality of the NSC-68 document and the downloadable transparency of the current national strategy for security. In the 2010 document, President Obama not only cites foreign threats such as Al-Qaeda, but he also suggests that Americans disadvantage themselves because of a series of domestic shortcomings: our dependent and lagging economy, lackluster sustainability projects, subpar educational standards, insufficient investment in technology and the sciences, among others. The document states: “Our strategy starts by recognizing that our strength and influence abroad begins with the steps we take at home.” Unlike the NSC-68 document, which warns of the inevitable, ambiguous, almost supernatural force of communism, the 2010 document on security strategy blatantly identifies the American status quo as a foe just as portentous as terrorist organizations. Additionally, the 2010 document is not meant for the behind-the-scenes eyes of government officials or policymakers. Anyone with access to Google can retrieve the 2010 security strategy. In my opinion, the blunt finger-pointing of the Obama document and its attainability work in tandem. Upon reading this document, the average American is supposed to feel fear and the appropriate amount of culpability. During the Cold War, the last emotion the government wished to incite within its citizens was alarm. Now, however, it seems almost patriotic to search for the weaknesses that we allowed to form within our society, to detect our ailing Achilles’ heel(s). President Obama’s words encourage the reader to acknowledge those vulnerabilities and approach them with the old-fashioned can-do attitude of our predecessors.  In this case, the bullet points of national security strategy seek to mold the perception of security itself in the eyes of citizens.