{"id":23973,"date":"2015-12-17T11:00:06","date_gmt":"2015-12-17T00:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=23973"},"modified":"2015-12-16T17:52:49","modified_gmt":"2015-12-16T06:52:49","slug":"looking-for-terrorists-in-alderaan-places","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/looking-for-terrorists-in-alderaan-places\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking for terrorists in Alderaan places"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"8093284505_38cbe656b2_z\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I was thrilled to see that \u2018ASPI suggests\u2019 recently made reference to Star Wars<\/em>\u2014the film series, not the missile defence system\u2014by way of a September 2009 article from The Economist<\/em><\/a> on the lack of counterinsurgency tactics in the original sci-fi blockbusters. The publication explained that the movie-going public \u2018hate insurgency and counterinsurgency.\u2019<\/p>\n

This might have been true in the era of Star Wars<\/em>\u2019 cinematic release in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, and nuclear war with the Soviet Union still a prevalent concern. But it couldn\u2019t be further from the truth in 2015. In fact, we\u2019re fascinated by insurgency these days. Conceivably, that\u2019s because we are bombarded with news about rebel groups all over the world every week, be they in Syria, Ukraine, Libya, Thailand, Kurdistan or further afield.<\/p>\n

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the popular science fiction of the day says a lot about the society in which it emerged. Without wading into the great depths of literature, I\u2019ll offer a few print examples: HG Wells\u2019 The Time Machine<\/em><\/a> (1895) is a diatribe on industrial relations and socialism, George Orwell\u2019s Nineteen Eighty-Four<\/em><\/a> (1949) emerged just after Europe had been torn apart by totalitarianism, and William Gibson\u2019s Neuromancer<\/em><\/a> (1984) was published just three years after IBM released its first personal computer<\/a> and the internet was in its infancy. A review of recent<\/a> popular films<\/a> reveals the ongoing fascination with insurgency and terrorism.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, in recent insurgency-themed science fiction, the protagonists are often the ones waging asymmetric war against the overbearing, centralised power. Recent examples include the Hunger Games<\/em>, Divergent<\/em>, Red Dawn<\/em> (the remake)\u2014even The Matrix<\/em>. I would argue that insurgency fascinates us because of the morally ambiguous challenge it presents. The modern Middle East\u2013North Africa theatre is a perfect example: the West provided support for insurgencies against Muammar Gaddafi<\/a> and, in the early stages, against Bashar al-Assad<\/a>. Nowadays, determining which Syrian rebel groups are \u2018freedom fighters\u2019 and which are \u2018terrorists\u2019 has worse odds than successfully navigating an asteroid field<\/a>. We have made political choices between supporting status quo dictatorships or pro-democracy activists\u2014just look at Egypt in 2011\u201313<\/a>. During the Cold War, the West supported anti-Communist insurgencies, including the jihadist mujahedeen<\/a> in the Soviet\u2013Afghan War.<\/p>\n

Star Wars<\/em> is useful for analogies because of its pervasive cultural presence. Recent articles have used Star Wars<\/em> to comment on cyber security<\/a>, military strategy<\/a>, religion<\/a> and just war<\/a>. It\u2019s easy to turn it into a terrorism<\/a> caricature, too: Luke Skywalker was \u2018radicalised\u2019<\/a> after the murder of his Aunt and Uncle by \u2018foreign military\u2019 forces and was subsequently responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands<\/a> of imperials (and probably civilians!) aboard the Death Star.<\/p>\n

As an avid Star Wars fan, my immediate response to The<\/em> Economist<\/em> article was that insurgency\/counterinsurgency discourse is more pervasive in more recent Star Wars<\/em>-related media. \u00a0The TV series Star Wars Rebels<\/em><\/a>, and the novel \u2018Tarkin<\/a>\u2019 are examples of texts that engage with insurgency themes. But those are contemporary texts, as well. Even in the same \u2018galaxy\u2019 as it were, the themes have changed according to the interests of real-world geopolitics.<\/p>\n

But if we\u2019re going to be honest, the original Star Wars<\/em> movies were about fighting fascist dictatorship and the many uses of laser swords. Painting the Rebels as terrorists is just ironic humour, because part of the premise of the film involves accepting that they were fighting for freedom from tyranny. At their best, the films present a canvas upon which to test our ideals for the real world.<\/p>\n

For example, there\u2019s a facetious debate over whether Alderaan was a military<\/a> or civilian<\/a> target when the planet was destroyed by the Death Star in the original film. Arguing over the merits of Imperial strategy is really a discussion about how far we might be willing to go to preserve our own global political system and the moral minefield that represents.<\/p>\n

So when we analyse Star Wars<\/em> as a counterterrorism text, we\u2019re actually asking under what circumstances we\u2019d support either the Empire or the Rebels. Under which circumstances is the rebel either a freedom fighter or a terrorist? There are no clear answers. We\u2019re constantly debating the merits of security versus freedom, and contemporary terrorism challenges this anew. That\u2019s what makes it such an interesting topic for film.<\/p>\n

In Episode VII: The Force Awakens<\/em>, more than 30 years will have passed since the death of the Emperor\u2014both in the Star Wars galaxy and in our own. A new generation has emerged to continue the struggle between security and freedom; between tyranny and resistance. Where each side will draw the line will be interesting to see. But one thing we can safely assume is that 2015\u2019s audiences will enjoy every minute of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was thrilled to see that \u2018ASPI suggests\u2019 recently made reference to Star Wars\u2014the film series, not the missile defence system\u2014by way of a September 2009 article from The Economist on the lack of counterinsurgency …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":392,"featured_media":23974,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[273,808,807],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLooking for terrorists in Alderaan places | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/looking-for-terrorists-in-alderaan-places\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Looking for terrorists in Alderaan places | The 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