Building on our tips from last week’s post, here are a few more tips to being more prepared for and getting more out of your foreign policy study. These tips are definitely less conventional but have made a huge impact for me personally. Enjoy!
This will either make perfect sense or seem completely silly but if I had to pinpoint one thing that has ignited my curiosity and boosted my confidence the most in understanding foreign policy and just plain being a well-informed person, this would be it. I have felt an endless satisfaction from taking time to learn more about world geography and I cannot think of a more useful tool to help one better understand history and foreign policy (and almost any other subject, for that matter). For example, in the past, when I would read something about The Cold War or World War I, when I encountered talk of troop movements or invasions or diplomatic scuffles, talk of countries or geographical regions seemed lifeless to me, like footnotes, not the focus. But when I could visualize the proximity of the USSR to Afghanistan, when I could trace in my mind Germany invading Belgium, suddenly, the same references that I would skim over previously became so much more real. Something about seeing people and places in real, spatial relationship to one another on the world stage helped me to better appreciate the historical realities.
I truly cannot overemphasize how much I would recommend simple geographic memorization. I personally love the World Maps app for iOS. It includes many great tools and training modes for political maps, like countries, capitals, and cities, as well as physical maps for locating important rivers and mountains. Not to mention that not a year goes by that we don’t hear regular anecdotes about how many Americans can’t locate some country in the Middle East or Europe on a world map. There is something empowering about having useful knowledge that so many ignore.
Just as one might develop a fondness for a favorite movie director, so you will likely find that, as you narrow down on resources to follow, you are drawn to particular journalists, pundits, or authors. Knowing that a resource’s information is sound is one thing; finding the way that information is presented interesting, engaging, or efficient for you is another. So identifying key individuals to follow can be very useful for ongoing study.
This really can be for almost any reason. For instance, you may be drawn to a particular current events columnist like Jason Ditz or Daniel Larison. Or you may develop a love for international journalism from reporters in the field, like Patrick Cockburn. It may track closely with your choice of resources to follow, if there are particular authors that work for or are syndicated by particular publications exclusively. It could be subject matter or style. Any reason is a good reason, just find one.
The key takeaway is simply to pay attention to who it is you’re reading and how you feel or what you learn while you read them. For me so far, I really enjoy the international writers for The Independent, like Cockburn and Robert Fisk. Cockburn has a clarity and conciseness that I admire. Fisk, on the other hand, can be overwhelming with his sheer understanding of the backstory and history behind any given place or person. His reporting is like getting a mini history lesson. I also love more political authors like Bill Kauffman and Pat Buchanan. Long-time figures of anti-interventionism in politics, they both have a great understanding of history and the politics behind it and their styles are both informative and entertaining.
The one thing that has surprised me and stretched me the most as an individual in recent history is my study of all things foreign policy. But one of the most surprising and challenging aspects of that has actually been how to approach that study. Oftentimes when one has a strong political philosophy, it is natural to restrict one’s exposure to news and media to sources that are agreeable to their point of view. While there is nothing wrong with this per se, and while it may tend to work well for many areas, this strategy is not a sound one in studying foreign policy. Anti-interventionism is a very broad philosophy and movement which has been in vogue with and has been advocated by very diverse groups in American political past. As such, you may find that some of the best resources (wait for it) are from the other side!
The fact is that one’s foreign policy can often differ independently from their domestic policy. In matters domestic, authors and pundits can differ wildly with what they find appropriate or effective. And while that same diversity can be found in foreign policy, it does not always track on partisan lines. So you will likely find yourself making strange alliances with many you would not expect. As a libertarian or conservative, you might usually avoid The Guardian, Slate, The Nation, or any number of publications that would normally vilify you and your worldview. But to do so would mean that you miss out on very good content on foreign policy. Many left-of-center media outlets feature staff and syndicated writers that do amazing reporting on civil liberties, war, diplomatic politics, and international events. This is simply a reality of media; that they serve to curate content to the sensibilities of their editorial staff and of their readership. Sometimes that means picking and choosing from a very broad palate and this is no more true than for areas of foreign policy.
I was hesitant at first. My guard is always up when l’m looking at media sources, as it should be. But while it may seem counterintuitive at first, there are many good reasons to develop a healthy perspective and to open oneself up to material from alternative news sources. For one, it humanizes those whom we typically think of adversarially. They are people with their own diverse opinions that can often not be pigeonholed into a neat category. Political affiliation or party often does not track with truth. Oftentimes party stance on issues has much more to do with social or political factors that shape the course of the platform far more than philosophy. And, most of all, it reinforces that foreign policy is an area of universal applicability and can be something that unifies us which is amazingly important when the time comes to preserve liberty.
I hope that some of these tips have been helpful to you and have inspired you to take action and become more knowledgeable. Political issues of the day come and go but the way that we interact with other nations diplomatically, the way we view them, and the way that we understand them and their history is timeless.
Share any tips of your own that have helped you improve your study and comprehension in the comments below or on social media at www.facebook.com/AbolishTheEmpire or on Twitter @AbolishThEmpire.
More to come…