Scott Erb

First Year Seminar: Syriana

Introduction

(Discuss nature of first year seminars, goals of the course, library contact, etc.)

Why Syriana?

1. There are four issues which face the world today that are captured in this film:

Oil.

Mideast Politics.

Terrorism and covert operations.

The rise of Islamic fundamentalism.

All of these are very poorly understood by most people, yet are of fundamental importance for our era in history. Syriana as a take off point is a good way to get into and connect these issues, and help students get up to speed on not only the situation, but also how to study and understand the forces in play.

2. The movie itself is complex, controversial, and often unclear. If you see it with little or no knowledge of the Mideast or oil, then you’ll get little from the film. My hope is that you’ll understand the film much better after having had this course, and that you’ll impress yourself with how much more you get with just a little background understanding.

Why is that important? It is true about every aspect of life. The more you learn, the more you understand the world, the deeper your experience of it will be. That doesn’t mean just the kind of education you get in college; someone who spends their lives outdoors in nature and who learns its rhythms and understands its working will appreciate it more than an urban dweller out for a vacation. But in general, college is an amazing opportunity because you have four years to truly learn to think for yourself, understand the world, and thus experience it more richly.

3. The books. Each book is different. Each requires a different kind of reading. None give you the "facts," because all facts are subject to interpretation. The first is by Robert Baer, and it’s the book the movie was loosely based on. They didn’t do an autobiography of his life, and there are vast differences between the George Clooney character’s experiences and Baer’s (obviously). Yet they wanted to portray the changes and problems in the CIA, and the nature of covert operations. The book is very interesting in that regard.

The Naftali book looks specifically at US policy, especially counter-terrorism from its origins after WWII. You’ll find it rather surprising how long we’ve been concerned about this and, an interesting bit of trivia, the date the first time a US President mentioned terrorism as a threat and announced plans to combat it: September 11, 1970.

Finally the Klare book builds on a theory of "peak oil" which predicts that the globe will soon have decreased oil output because of aging wells and no major new discoveries of oil reserves. This is an especially frightening theory, embraced by a number of scientists, especially geologists who deal with oil and fossil fuels. Tom Eastler here at UMF finds the theory persuasive and talked last semester in this class. If so, then just as demand for oil heats up, with China on the rise, total output goes down, and prices skyrocket. The result could be devastating for our economy, and would lead to resource wars and conflicts over dwindling supplies.

We’ll also read No God but God by Reza Aslan (and I’ll show a clip from his appearance on the daily show). This is a very well written history of Islam, helping us understand what the religion is about. In class we’ll compare this to the development of western thought, and try to get a sense about the cultural differences between the West and the Islamic world, and if these "worlds" are clashing.

So after this class you won’t only better understand Syriana (and be able to critique its assumptions), but you’ll have knowledge of the oil industry and how it functions, as well as debates about possible oil shortages in years to come. You’ll understand Islam and the various different beliefs within the Islamic world, you’ll understand Iran – a country in transition, and one labeled by President Bush as part of the ‘axis of evil.’ You’ll also understand a bit more about US policy, and covert operations. You’ll understand why terrorism exists, what motivates terrorists, and various debates about how to have effective counter-terrorism. In short, you’ll be in a position to truly listen to arguments and debates about policies concerning terrorism and the Mideast and not just follow the political winds (if you’re on the right doing what conservative pundits say, if you’re on the left following liberal pundits).

Most Americans get their opinions "on the cheap." They identify with a political party or ideology, and just follow what people in that camp think, some from talk radio, others from political polemics. Your job is to be independent, and look not just for the cue on what to believe, but to be able to analyze reality. And even though this class is about foreign affairs and the Mideast, gaining knowledge across disciplines through college should help you integrate your knowledge and be able to think about all issues, cultural, economic, domestic and international with your own mind, independent.

This class does so explicitly as a first year seminar, but your job throughout the rest of your college career is to work to build links connecting what you learn in various courses, and apply it to understanding the world. If you see that as a goal, rather than just taking tests and getting grades (then forgetting about the material), you will benefit greatly throughout life because of your education. If this class helps you embrace that kind of goal, then it will have been a success as far as I’m concerned, I’m less worried about you learning the details and facts of the situation than seeing this as showing how much richer and interesting the world is if you understand it.

Thus we need to address current events: Are we at what some call "World War III," a "clash of civilizations," or is all that just hype and hyperbole?

On the one side, you see a lot of people saying that Islamic extremists are gearing up for a huge battle, with Iran getting nuclear weapons and terrorist networks spreading, setting the West up for a major battle that might destroy Israel, drive oil up to $250 a barrel or higher, and cause the decline of western civilization.

On the other side people claim that Islamic extremists are a minority who benefits from outside military intervention because it allows them to use the emotion of ‘fighting foreign invaders’ to draw youth to their cause, and that even Iran has limited power and couldn’t really threaten the US.

Those arguing the first see the danger as being not aggressively confronting the enemy; appeasement all over again. Those arguing the second see the danger as being the risk of a self-fulfilling prophecy if we make choices that get us enmeshed in conflicts in the region, feeding into the extremists by appearing to be imperialist conquerors.

So what is going on? Well, we can’t definitively answer that in this class, but with the knowledge you gain here you can think about those issues with a lot more understanding. Otherwise, you’ll be victim to the most persuasive sounding argument you hear, or for simply going with whatever your favorite political leaders say.

And that leads to a final point:

Issues involving politics are contentious because there are so many different perspectives. Ultimately, these issues are controversial, and I doubt we’ll have consensus on everything in this class. There are two things to keep in mind:

1. Avoid beliefs that come not from reasoned analysis, but just ‘choosing a side.’ I’m perhaps overstressing it, but it’s a theme I want to drive home. You’ve seen this from people on the left and on the right. People will believe what their political party believes, or what their favorite pundit says. They won’t really try to investigate the issues, they’ve chosen their side and will simply look for ways to support that argument.

That can always be done. The social world is so complex, with so much uncertainty, that you can find evidence to support a conservative, a liberal, a socialist, an anarchist, or whatever point of view you want. Some may be easier to support than others, but if one just tries to rationalize a position they hold simply by habit, they can pull it off. But real thinkers always know what I believe or suspect might be wrong. Humans are fallible, I need to look at all sides. To that end:

2. Listen before debating or coming to conclusions. Walter Lippmann wrote that opposition is essential to democracy. The reason is that without opposition, we will never know if we have a wrong view – debate between opposing viewpoints is good because it is a path to truth, it is the only way to investigate and find weaknesses and strengths in different perspectives. Listening is something we all have to do – that means respect different opinions, reflect on ones’ own view, and be willing to change your mind if evidence and reason lead you that way.

Otherwise, we aren’t truly trying to understand reality, we’re just protecting an interpretation of reality we’ve grown fond of.

(rest of class: discussion, getting to know each other, talk about writing assignments, give Ashley a chance to talk)