Museums as Contested Sites of Remembrance: The Enola Gay Affair

1995 ◽  
Vol 43 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 69-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera L. Zolberg

In recent years, controversies concerning the construction of displays of historical events have turned attention to the role of these public sitings. Although virtually any location to which access is relatively unrestricted may give rise to disputes, museums in particular have become foci of these debates. Their prominence is not surprising, since they are institutions in which a nation's qualities are ‘written’ or ‘shown.’ In this chapter I turn my attention to an important polemic in which two nations are involved: the United States and Japan. The subject is how the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was to be represented by a museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. It allows me to examine more deeply the interactions of groups representing divergent interests within the United States, in the context of global relations with a relative equal, rather than a dominated subject. In the process, I analyze the role of the museum as an institution involved in the construction of national narratives in two countries, the political controversies unveiled, and the lost opportunities for innovation in the museum's relationship to its public as politicians intrude upon professions.

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (11) ◽  
pp. 179
Author(s):  
Nazhan Hammoud Nassif Al Obeidi ◽  
Abdul Wahab Abdul Aziz Abu Khamra

The Gulf crisis 1990-1991 is one of the important historical events of the 1990s, which gave rise to the new world order by the sovereignty of the United States of America on this system. The Gulf crisis was an embodiment to clarify the features of this system. .     The crisis in the Gulf was an opportunity for the Moroccans to manage this complex event and to use it for the benefit of the Moroccan situation. Therefore, the bilateral position of the crisis came out as a rejection, a contradiction and a supporter of political and economic dimensions at the external and internal levels. On the Moroccan situation, and from these points came the choice of the subject of the study (the dimensions of the Moroccan position from the Gulf crisis 1990-1991), which shows the ingenuity of Moroccans in managing an external crisis and benefiting from it internally.


2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-106
Author(s):  
Khaled Elgindy

This essay looks at the hearing held by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives in April 1922 on the subject of a Jewish National Home in Palestine, as well as the broader congressional debate over the Balfour Declaration at that crucial time. The landmark hearing, which took place against the backdrop of growing unrest in Palestine and just prior to the League of Nations' formal approval of Britain's Mandate over Palestine, offers a glimpse into the cultural and political mindset underpinning U.S. support for the Zionist project at the time as well as the ways in which the political discourse in the United States has, or has not, changed since then. Despite the overwhelming support for the Zionist project in Congress, which unanimously endorsed Balfour in September 1922, the hearing examined all aspects of the issue and included a remarkably diverse array of viewpoints, including both anti-Zionist Jewish and Palestinian Arab voices.


2000 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAMES C. GARAND ◽  
MARCI GLASCOCK LICHTL

In recent years the study of divided government has been a growth industry. Numerous scholars have sought to explain patterns of divided government in the United States, while others have attempted to explore the consequences of the phenomenon. No doubt this scholarly interest in the subject is due in large part to the attention paid by the political media to divided control of the presidency and Congress during the 1980s, as well as the resulting ’gridlock‘ that dominated policy making in Washington during that time period.


Author(s):  
Duncan Bell

This chapter focuses on John Robert Seeley (1834–95), the most prominent imperial thinker in late nineteenth-century Britain. It dissects Seeley's understanding of theology and religion, probes his views on the sacred character of nationality, and shows how he attempted to reconcile particularism and universalism in a so-called “cosmopolitan nationalist” vision. It argues that Seeley's most famous book, The Expansion of England (1883) should be understood as an expression of his basic political-theological commitments. The chapter also makes the case that he conceived of Greater Britain as a global federal nation-state, modeled on the United States. It concludes by discussing the role of India and Ireland in his polychronic, stratified conception of world order.


2020 ◽  
pp. 97-117
Author(s):  
Sebastián Hurtado-Torres

This chapter focuses on the role of copper policies in the relations between the United States and Chile during the Frei administration, especially as they relate to the developmental efforts of the Christian Democratic project. During the Frei administration, the political debate on copper policies reached a climax. Since U.S. capitals were among the most significant actors in the story, the discussions around the issue of copper converged with the ideological visions of the United States and the Cold War held by the different Chilean political parties. As the Frei administration tried to introduce the most comprehensive and consistent reform around the structure of the property of the Gran Minería del Cobre, the forces in competition in the arena of Chilean politics stood by their ideological convictions, regarding both copper and the United States, in their opposition or grudging support for the policies proposed by the Christian Democratic government. Moreover, the U.S. government became deeply involved in the matter of copper in Chile, first by pressuring the Chilean government into rolling back a price increase in 1965 and then, mostly through the personal efforts of Ambassador Edward Korry, by mediating in the negotiation between the Frei administration and Anaconda on the nationalization of the U.S. company's largest mine, Chuquicamata, in 1969.


Author(s):  
Sappho Xenakis ◽  
Leonidas K. Cheliotis

There is no shortage of scholarly and other research on the reciprocal relationship that inequality bears to crime, victimisation and contact with the criminal justice system, both in the specific United States context and beyond. Often, however, inequality has been studied in conjunction with only one of the three phenomena at issue, despite the intersections that arguably obtain between them–and, indeed, between their respective connections with inequality itself. There are, moreover, forms of inequality that have received far less attention in pertinent research than their prevalence and broader significance would appear to merit. The purpose of this chapter is dual: first, to identify ways in which inequality’s linkages to crime, victimisation and criminal justice may relate to one another; and second, to highlight the need for a greater focus than has been placed heretofore on the role of institutionalised inequality of access to the political process, particularly as this works to bias criminal justice policy-making towards the preferences of financially motivated state lobbying groups at the expense of disadvantaged racial minorities. In so doing, the chapter singles out for analysis the US case and, more specifically, engages with key extant explanations of the staggering rise in the use of imprisonment in the country since the 1970s.


Author(s):  
Arthur L. Frank

This chapter considers the role and value of the study of the humanities in medical education. Most authors on this subject believe the study of the humanities results in a better physician. However, few papers document this almost universally accepted idea. This chapter cites the available literature on the subject and also considers how the study of the humanities has become more common in countries beyond the United States. The study of the humanities is thought to improve physician communication and to influence ethical behaviors, ultimately improving patient care.


Author(s):  
Charles O. Jones

The creative work involved in writing the Constitution of the United States in Philadelphia in 1787 has been interpreted and analysed in political and policy debate ever since. ‘Inventing the Presidency’ considers how the Founders of the United States tried to create unity in a separated system. Why was the title of president selected? What was the role of president going to look like? How long should the single executive serve? Should the person be term-limited? Providing a legislative or law-making role for the president was the subject of considerable debate at the beginning. Inventors solve problems: they tinker until they have a workable device. The creation of the presidency was a process of trial and error.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karam Dana ◽  
Bryan Wilcox-Archuleta ◽  
Matt Barreto

AbstractDespite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, popular perceptions in the United States, especially among political elites, continue to believe that religious Muslims oppose American democratic traditions and values. While many studies find positive relationships between mosque attendance and civic participation among U.S. Muslims, an empirical and theoretical puzzle continues to exist. What is missing is research that examines the relationships between the multi-dimensional concept of religiosity and how this is associated with public opinion and attitudes towards the American political system among Muslim Americans. Using a unique national survey of Muslim Americans, we find a positive relationship between religious beliefs, behavior, and belonging and perceptions of compatibility with American democratic traditions. Quite simply, the most religious are the most likely to believe in political integration in the United States.


2001 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Lerner

As a result of the Mexican Revolution, many politicians from various factions were forced into exile between 1906 and 1940, particularly between 1910 and 1920. The subject has merited little attention until the present despite the fact that its study can provide another perspective on the Mexican Revolution, the one of the opponents who were defeated. This study focuses on the exile of the villistas that began in the autumn of 1915 and ended at the beginning of the 1920s. The article considers who were the villista exiles, how they escaped from Mexico, how they adapted economically in the United States, and when they returned to their country. It also examines certain political tendencies and their later activities between 1920 and 1940. Four political activities in the United States intended to change the political situation in Mexico are considered. Finally, the article examines how U.S. authorities, closely involved with their Mexican counterparts, treated the exiles. LaRevolucióón mexicanacausóó elexilio de muchos polííticos de distintas facciones entre 1906 y 1940, sobre todo entre 1910 y 1920. Este tema ha merecido muy pocaatencióón hasta elmomento presente,a pesarde que atravéés de éélpodemos aproximarnos desde otra perpectiva a la Revolucióón mexicana, desde el punto de vista de los opositores que muchas veces fueron los vencidos. Este estudio se centra en el exilio de los villistas que empezóó en el otoñño de 1915 y terminóó a principios de la déécada de 1920. En este artíículo se analiza quiéénes fueron los exiliados villistas, cóómo escaparon de Mééxico, su acomodo econóómico y laboral en Estados Unidos y el retorno a su patria, dejando ver ciertas tendencias polííticas de su actuacióónpolíítica ulterior entre 1920y 1940.Se desmenuzan cuatro actividades polííticas que emprendieron en Estados Unidos para cambiar la situacióón mexicana. Finalmente se abarca la forma en que fueron tratados durante su exilio en los Estados Unidos, por las autoridades de este paíís que estaban estrechamente vinculadas con las mexicanas.


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