Changes were the topic of the day during the University of Memphis forum entitled “One Year Later: Have we changed?”
Held at the University Center lobby on Thursday, four U of M panelists, Shannon Blanton, David Ciscel, Kenneth Holland and Mamoon Zaki, discussed different issues that have changed in the United States since Sept. 11, 2001.
After technical difficulties delayed the panel’s start, moderator Will Thompson, associate professor and assistant dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, introduced the forum and the panelists, beginning with Blanton, assistant professor of political sciences.
Blanton discussed the foreign policies aspects of the past year, saying the nation had adopted the Bush doctrine: Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.
The United States, Blanton said, yields hard power and soft power, defined as military force, intelligence forces and diplomacy.
According to Blanton, the United States needs to be sure not to rely solely on the hard power of the military forces, as terrorists spread throughout 61 countries and are able to avoid this type of power.
The soft power of intelligence forces is important, Blanton said, and needs to be built up.
“The system is weak because of lack of communication and cooperation within our own agencies,” she said.
Diplomacy is the second type of soft power necessary for the counter-terrorism organization.
Blanton said, “ Solidarity will enhance the effort... for a global antiterrorist organization.
“The terrorist threat won’t be destroyed by military force, but by the soft power of intelligence and diplomacy. Soft power as well as hard cultivates and maintains a united global front,” she added.
Ciscel, professor of economics, discussed the effects of small changes on a big economy remarking that from on economic point of view, the most interesting part of Sept. 11 is that it was a complete failure.
“There was almost no need to respond from an economic point of view,” said Cisel. “It was failed in terms of its ultimate goal, which was to have a negative impact on the U.S. economy.”
There are three smaller points, however, that have caused and will continue to cause difficulties for the economy, according to Ciscel.
First, the attack caused inefficiency in America when the country tried to make itself more secure, as with airport security. The second point is the difficulties that have been introduced to the United States airlines. Government spending is the final point, as this has destroyed the balanced budget.
“We have not taken fighting the terrorists seriously,” Ciscel said. “There has been no tax increase to pay for it. I see this as a real problem.”
Holland, department chair of political sciences, continued the forum discussing the impact on civil liberties. Comparing the past year to eras in history, such as the Civil War, WWI and the Cold War, Holland said that until the 1960s, the courts did nothing to protect civil rights in these times.
Though acts such as the U.S. Patriot Act do suppress certain civil rights, Holland’s opinion is that these are not as serious as those past times because of court influence.
“I believe the court will strike down those acts that violate the basic civil rights,” Holland said.
The final speaker of the forum was Zaki, a political science faculty member, who spoke on the stereotypes since Sept. 11.
Among jokes about flying carpets and 1,001 nights, Zaki said while the Middle East has knowledge of the United States, the United States lacks knowledge of the Middle East.
“This dangerous lack of knowledge leads to negative stereotypes,” Zaki said.
Zaki differentiated between a fundamentalist, as someone who knows the fundamentals of his or her religion, and a fanatic, as someone who carries those beliefs to a dangerous level. Negative stereotypes, Zaki said, are created about certain groups of people and stem from an enormous lack of knowledge. This has caused the stereotype that all Arabs are terrorists and all Muslims are terrorists, he said.
“I can guarantee you,” Zaki said, “that 90 percent of those people who came here-all they are concerned with is to survive-mind their own business and survive.”
