Panel presents alternative views on state of world affairs

"We aren't foreign policy experts," Hart said, "but we will speak as morally-conscious human beings with some sense of imminent disaster if things keep going the way they're going."\nSunday's program was organized by IU's Progressive Faculty Coalition. It was the second part of a continuing forum on "American Empire and its Alternatives."\nMembers of Sunday's forum expressed a strong desire to hold more events like these and hope to start speaking to different groups in the area. \nThe first topic presented at Sunday's forum was titled "Who's in Charge? Unelected Power Brokers in the Bush Administration." Assistant professor of English Eva Cherniavsky spoke to the small, attentive audience about Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz.\nPrior to his appointment, Wolfowitz was a member of the Project for the New American Century -- a non-profit educational organization dedicated to a few fundamental propositions. According to its Web site, those propositions include that American leadership is good both for America and for the world, that such leadership requires military strength, diplomatic energy and commitment to moral principle and that too few political leaders today are making the case for global leadership.\nUsing the PNAC's Statement of Principles as an example, Cherniavsky invited everyone to think about the full meaning of the language that is used to shape United States foreign policy. She questioned the meaning of the word "responsibility," which is an often cited reason for American involvement with other countries. \nAn audience member expressed his struggle with the United States' definition of "democracy" they promote abroad.\n"It is a democracy insofar as it promotes the interest of the government," he said.\nAssociate professor of English Purnima Bose questioned the meaning of the word "virtue" used by members of another "think tank" called the American Enterprise Institute. \nBose said in the AEI's mission statement, "the term 'virtue' is defined as the freedom to pursue national progress."\nShe also addressed a common question many people ask: who controls these "think tanks"? \nBose said despite the AEI's non-partisan stance, she believes there is no way to know if think tanks are actually non-partisan because the identity of the donors isn't public information. \nCherniavsky said she urges citizens to recognize that our current political culture including "government run by multinational corporations" is shocking because it doesn't shock the citizens. She said she hopes this growing trend will change.\n"We absolutely need to refuse this transformation of the meaning of political credentials," she said.\nThe second segment of the program titled, "Choosing Our Enemies: Double Standards and Demonization," used Iraq and Cuba as examples to describe the creation and treatment of United States enemies. \nHistory professor Konstantin Dierks said he has been learning more about Iraq in the wake of recent world events. He said during his initial explorations, he discovered Iraq's history timelines on the Internet all begin in the early 1990s. Dierks cited this as an example of the media not covering the whole story.\nSince this discovery, he has been researching Iraq's history in books. He read the audience a brief timeline of Iraq's history which he has pieced together. The timeline he presented begins much earlier than those available on the Internet. \nAfter opening the floor to questions, some of which cannot be answered, cognitive computer science professor Michael Gasser presented the 43-year history of Cuba as America's enemy. He said American policy toward Cuba was somewhat hypocritical, such as the claim that they are a threat to America even though they have cooperated fully in condemning terrorism. \nHe also said if Cuba used the American standards to judge the United States, the country would certainly be classified as a terrorist nation. While Cuba's ties to the Soviet Union or the multiple times Cuba has aligned itself with American enemies during a conflict have frequently been used to explain American isolation of Cuba, Gasser suggests other less publicized reasons. \nAt the close of the session, he opened up the floor for discussion. \nThis was the second forum, and Dierks said the audience attendance has been fairly low at each of them. He said he has been trying to figure out why the many movements all around the world that are against the war have failed to grow.\nHe has speculated that the rhetoric used to frame the movement risks alienating American citizens who do not want to participate in a cause which is often called "anti-American," which have strong implications.\nThe forum is held from 2 to 4 p.m. on the second Sunday of every month at the Monroe County Public Library. They are free and open to the public.