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Orientalism - Edward Said


             Orientalism: A Century Later.
             Orientalism describes a concept wherein a strong cultural, racial, or political body wields power over a weaker one. The power of the stronger is based on many variables of cultural power and intellectual strength. In his 1979 essay entitled "The Scope of Orientalism", Professor Edward Said presents the idea by analyzing the relationships between East and West during the nineteenth and twentieth century. Said interprets the meaning of a lecture given by British statesman and politician Arthur James Balfour to the House of Commons on June 13, 1910. In his lecture Balfour outlines the western imperialist stance that proffers the dominant supervising role to England and the subordinate role to what Balfour calls the "subject race", in this case Egypt.
             The fundamental principles that are illuminated when viewing the Chomsky essay through the lens of the Said are that in the modern Occidental vs. Oriental situation in Iraq, we still cling to the tenets of division put forth by Balfour. Can we divide humans into categories based on culture, race, tradition, society, etc. and survive the consequences humanely? as Said asks. .
             In his essay, "U.S. Iraq Policy: Motives and Consequences", written in 1989 and given as part of a lecture, Noam Chomsky, Professor of linguistics at MIT and frequent critic of U.S. foreign policy, seeks to expose the U.S. for its duplicitious self interest in dealing with Iraq. Chomsky creates a portal through which the essence of Said's concept of orientalism can be discerned. The framework of dominance by one group in order to exploit another inherent in orientalism exists in modern times and rears its ugly head as theUnited States struggles with the Iraqisuues. Through thinly-veiled trickery and deceit, the U.S. manipulates Iraq to do its bidding. .
             Searching for a cause and shining light on the reasons for the United States's underhanded tactics in Iraq, Chomsky finds no basis in morality.


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