Rather than surprised at the recent conflict between North and South Korea, I am more plagued with a sense of Deja Vu. Wash, Rinse, Repeat. Or in the case of North Korea, violate a previous treaty, respond to increased repercussions with conflict, agree to return to negotiations and form a new agreement, repeat as necessary until North Korea becomes accepted as a nuclear weapons capable state. From the violated 1991 North-South Denuclearization Accord, to the violated 2005 Six Party Joint Statement, to the violated 2007 and 2008 Six Party Agreements, North Korea has done a fine job at repeating. However, the one variable that has not remained constant for this most recent escalation of tension between North and South Korea is Kim Jong-Un, the son of and likely successor to Kim Jong-Il. Unfortunately, Kim Jong-Un, an individual with no previous North Korean military experience, is attempting to bolster his political standing and legitimize his future as leader of North Korea in a time where the regime is much more fragile than during Kim Jung-Il's time. Therefore, the world response to North Korea's most recent political-military stunt to leverage power and legitimacy may end up reaching farther and lasting longer than either the father or son would have anticipated, creating a more dangerous situation that may break North Korea's cycle of treaty and conflict for better, or for worse.
And this is where we come to La Malinche.
Which of the two representations of the American Indian in the photograph above (the National Museum of the American Indian or the Washington Redskins flag) is more acceptable? Immediately, my mind finds the more formal Museum of the American Indian to be a far more acceptable and respectful representation of Native Americans. However, when attempting to justify my answer to this seemingly straightforward question, I find answering to be far more difficult. Certainly, the Washington Redskins flag does no justice to Native American culture because it one, generalizes American Indian culture, thereby distorting it, and two, attempts to mix the diverse cultures and traditions of the many different Native American tribes with the popular culture of American football. On the other hand, the National Museum of the American Indian does this to some extent as well. By attempting to include so many diverse cultures in a single museum and under the blanket term “American Indian”, the museum also distorts certain aspects of Native American life by failing to highlight their differences. Additionally, despite the efforts to portray the modernity of the American Indian through modern art, the museum does not successfully represent the Native Americans as a surviving and technically sovereign people. Therefore, the failures of both representations of the American Indian stem from their generalizations of varied and distinct cultures, as well as their neglect for the existence of modern Native American culture. However, the question does not include the option to choose neither. Therefore, I must choose the National Museum of the American Indian to be the more acceptable of the two because it is the lesser of the two misrepresentations. Unlike, the Washington Redskins flag, the museum attempts to represent the American Indian culture in a valid manner, despite its generalizations, and also does include some evidence, be it minimal, of a continuing Native American culture.
As a number of you know, I had to miss last Wednesday's lab to play a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operetta, The Pirates of Penzance. Although I was not able to explore the National Museum of the American Indian, my experience was not completely void of reference to world politics and international relations theory. From the characterization of the “modern” Major-General to the constructivist focus on identity and how it affects relations between, in the case of the operetta, the Pirates of Penzance and the Major-General and his daughters.
The characterization of being “the very model of a modern Major-General” is not an uncommon popular culture reference. The term has been used to describe individuals from George Washington to General Barney-White Spunner, a British general who played an instrumental role in the British involvement in the Iraq War, to even Kim Jong Eun, the possible successor to Kim Jong Il. It has its roots in the Major-General's patter song, possibly the most famous work in the Pirates of Penzance, used to describe the Major-General's impressive education and well-rounded knowledge of the world in a satirical manner (lyrics). Apart from the comedic genius of Gilbert and Sullivan, this song contains some important political commentary regarding the importance of a general education not only for the general work force but for political and military leaders as well.
In addition to characterizing common players in the international realm, Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta gives a compelling argument in favor of certain constructivist tenets, specifically the role of identity. The plot of The Pirates of Penzance is built off of the changing identity of the Major-General in relation to the altercasting of the Pirates of Penzance (synopsis). The Pirates of Penzance are described as being a band of orphaned young men. Therefore, to elicit their sympathies and escape the pirates unharmed, the educated Major-General creates a fake identity by claiming to be an orphan himself. This scene argues the constructivist belief that the relations within our international system, whether between states, NGOs, or a mixture, can be drastically affected and changed depending upon the perceived identities of the two parties. Additionally, the role of altercasting is instrumental to the development of the second act of the operetta. It is discovered towards the end of the work that the pirates were all, in fact, noblemen that developed into the pirate gang the audience sees through the altercasting of the orphanage and society in general. However, as soon as this information is revealed, the identity of the Pirates of Penzance changes dramatically back to being respected noblemen, resolving the conflicts between the previous pirates, the Major-General, and the Crown. Therefore, although Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance is a genius comedic operetta, it is also has significant value as a microcosm of constructivist international relations theory.
