Liberty Bell

Peace? (part 1) covered the basic structure of Roosevelt’s plans for world peace. Now I am hoping to spend some time on what people today think about Roosevelt’s ideas. There are several groups that agree with him, and are trying to apply his ideas to life in the 21st century. One of these groups is International Relations Center. (IRC)

I was reading one of their articles earlier this week: “Remembering FDR and the Four Freedoms” by Tom Barry. It listed four principals I thought worth showing you since they were related to Peace? (part 1).

1. To become a good neighbor one must stop being a bad neighbor.

2. Foreign policy must not be tied to elite ideological, military, or economic interests, but rooted in broadly defined U.S. interests.

3. We need to reassert what FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt successfully popularized, namely the notion of interdependence, which the Secretary General also mentions.

4. Power comes from prestige and respected leadership, not bullying.

The first point is a very general but true statement. If you want to be a good neighbor, you have to stop being a bad neighbor. They can’t exist together. The problem is, the paper does not tell you what being a good neighbor is (specifically), and more importantly, does not tell you what a bad neighbor is. But I will agree with this very general point - it would be illogical to disagree.

The second point is not very easy to understand. It states, “Foreign policy must not be tied to elite ideological, military, or economic interests, but rooted in broadly defined U.S. interests.” “Broadly defined U.S. interests.” And what does that mean? Even if you broadly defined those interests it would still give your readers a better idea of what you’re talking about. Sorry, buddy, I’m not telepathic. And why must foreign policy not be tied to elite ideological, military, or economic interests? Those interests have formed good relationships. And you are the International Relations Center.

The third point tells you that we need to reassert what FDR and Eleanor successfully popularized. Thankfully, he does go on to mention an example: interdependence. Interdependence is defined as: “a reciprocal relation between interdependent entities (objects or individuals or groups). Reciprocal, in turn, means: “concerning each of two or more persons or things; especially given or done in return; “reciprocal aid”; “reciprocal trade”; “mutual respect”; “reciprocal privileges at other clubs.” So what he’s saying is that we need to encourage more relationships that benefit each of the groups in those relationships. I agree with that. Unity occurs when both parties help the other. Unity is the easiest way to create a force. And a force makes it a lot easier to persuade even more people.

I’m not sure what to make of point four. It simply states, “Power comes from prestige and respected leadership, not bullying.” First, it would be best to define “power.” Power could simply be the ability to control others. But it can also be defined as the ability or capacity to perform or act effectively. In the first case, I would say bullying is more effective. Maybe despicable and disgraceful, but effective. For the second definition, the respected have a greater chance of fulfilling the position. Yet, how to you think all those people held in prestige and respect got to their positions? Some made it fair and square, but others made their way up the tower by bullying.

I was disappointed by the article. It seemed totally relevant to what I had been researching/writing about. But it was full of vague terms, and half-completed thoughts. Understandable - not very convincing. Maybe the author had explained all the terms, and finished his thoughts in some other article. Or he could just have expected us to understand what “broadly defined U.S. interests” would be. If you understand, please fill me in, since I seem to be missing the point.

Since I have spent the whole post analyzing one paper, here is the link:
Remembering FDR and the Four Freedoms

Any comments related to this post, or on the article, would be appreciated. I realize this post is a little rough. I apologize.