Published in The Express Tribune, August 10th, 2015
Hegemony refers to domination of various kinds, often by one state or group over others. The definition given by the Italian Marxist Gramsci leads to deeper understanding: it is the success of the dominant classes in presenting their view of the world as the only acceptable one. The importance of shaping minds as an essential component of modern warfare has received recognition under the name of “Soft Power” and current US Army Manuals devote considerable attention to this. The importance of the hard power in the form of weapons, soldiers and technical support in the Iraq war is obvious. However, the essential enabling role of the soft power required to convince the US public that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, Al-Qaeda was somehow present in Iraq, and that Iraq posed a danger to the world, often escapes attention. Similarly, a massive propaganda effort magnifies the terrorist threat out of proportion to reality, in order to allow trillions to be spent on “security” when millions are homeless and hungry in the USA.
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