04e: Conclusions

1. Pelisipia, Here We Come
Not all of Thomas Jefferson's ideas were brilliant. In 1784 a committee chaired by Thomas Jefferson presented recommendations for dividing and governing the Northwest Territory. The government portion of the committee's recommendations were acceptable, and later formed the basis for the Northwest Ordinance. But the recommendation for creating 10 new states was not accepted. You can see a map here; but the mere names of the states are interesting. Some of the names made sense: Michigania,Illinoia, and even Washington. Polypotamia, Metropotamia, Saratoga and Sylvania are perhaps pushing it a bit. Cherronesus and Pelisipia are out there. Then comes what would have been my native state. I'm eternally grateful not to be from Milwaukee, Assenisipia.

2. O'er The Ramparts We Watched
I have to admit that I once considered the American national anthem exceedingly silly. The tune is complicated and the words hardly even mean anything. Why couldn't we have something nice like "O Canada:" perhaps "America the Beautiful?" But examination of "The Star Spangled Banner's" context cleared my mind considerably.  Imagine spending the night watching the Royal Navy, mightiest in the world, tried to shell American militiamen out of Fort McHenry and land British regulars near Baltimore. The fact that the flag (and the militiamen) were still there sounded a note of optimism - this new nation with its experimental government would last. Oddly enough, the song did not become the national anthem until 1931!

3. Doctrine, Doctrine
A doctrine is in fact a teaching. But in foreign policy, the word has also come to describe statements of fundamental principles. From the beginning, the Monroe Doctrine could be interpreted in different ways at different times. But it encouraged sequels. The Truman Doctrine of 1947 stated the US would provide emergency aid to ensure that democratic nations like Greece and Turkey would remain free from Communism. The Brezhnev Doctrine of 1968 stated that the USSR would not tolerate attempts to turn a Soviet client state "capitalist." The Sinatra Doctrine of 1989 reversed the Brezhnev Doctrine by saying that Soviet client states could break off from the Eastern Block, and they could do it "their way." The Bush Doctrine, as expressed in a speech of September 20, 2001, states "Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."

4. Hit the road, Jack
The term "ethnic cleansing" is fairly new, dating back to Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian behavior after Communist Yugoslavia disintegrated in 1991. Yugoslavia was more a collection of nations than a nation itself (it was literally invented after the First World War); for Serbs, Croats, and Bosnians freedom meant an opportunity to settle ancient grudges. Ethnic cleansing generally meant the forced resettlement of minorities, often with extreme violence. Yet the practice itself is literally ancient: the Jewish diaspora was itself a form of ethnic cleansing, as was King Mithradates of Pontus's murder of 80,000 Romans in 88 BC. Both the Russians and the Soviets relocated entire nations, most often from the Caucasus, to remote parts of the country. Even the United States's shameful internment of Japanese-American citizens during the Second World War comes under this category. Nobody is innocent on this one.