But this isn't just about Israel, it's also about America's place in the world. Elsewhere I have discussed this broad anti-intellectual campaign, and the conservative forces behind it, in these terms:
The role of academics in US politics and foreign policy is very controversial. A McCarthyite effort to silence dissent on American campuses has been led by Lynne Cheney’s American Council of Trustees and Alumni, William Bennett’s Americans for Victory over Terrorism, Daniel Pipes’ Campus Watch, and David Horowtz's Students for Academic Freedom. In the wake of 9-11, these organizations have sought to pressure US academics into eschewing critical reexamination of America’s role in the world and instead to reaffirm what these neoconservatives see as ‘traditional Western values’ – axiomatically identified as ‘the great heritage of human civilization’ (ACTA, Defending Civilization, 2002: 5) - which are understood to be embodied preeminently in the USA and for which US foreign policy is seen as a powerful evangelical vehicle. Their leading personas are drawn from the incestuous tangle of neo-conservative political networks, the ideological visions they project are very nearly congruent, and they are funded by the notorious troika of ultra-conservative and strategically deliberate foundations: Bradley, Scaife, and Olin (on the which, see the data collected by the Media Transparency project). Here's an article at History News Network describing this conservative network and the funders behind it.
No comments:
Post a Comment