Saturday, November 14, 2015

Responding to the attacks in Paris 11/13

Class,

As many of you know there has been a series of coordinated in Paris. For the next week or so the media coverage of the events will be pervasive. Here are several objectives to keep in mind.

1. Don't panic. You are safe. Some of you may have friends or family in Europe and they are safe, too. Remember that terrorism works by exploiting the natural human responses to 'terrifying' events, meaning that the psychological effect is the goal, not the physical effect. The purpose is to induce people into acting and thinking irrationally. When you keep your wits about you, you take away their power.

2. Be reflective. We are all experiencing a variety of emotions in response to this. No matter how many world politics courses we've taken, we are all human. Take time to reflect and recognize the emotions acting upon you, the good and the bad, the empathy and the anger. Emotions can influence our decisions and these events are designed to manipulate our emotions. However, by identifying these emotions, we can recover some of our own agency.  

3. Don't believe everything you read or see on TV. This doesn't mean believe nothing. These are the sorts of events that separate the real, hard news organizations from the chaff, the sensationalizing tabloids seeking only to maximize ratings. High quality news organizations will in most cases wait until facts have been double or in some cases triple verified by reliable sources, such as eye-witnesses, emergency personnel, or government officials. While we all hunger for the latest information, we must be patient. As we hunger for the latest details, the less ethical news outlets are more than happy to serve up rumors and unverified information to keep you tuned in. Such rumors are often meant to appeal to our instinctual fears and prejudices. Be patient and the facts will come out.

4. You are students of world politics, not randos off the street. Use your knowledge and skills to analyze the situation coolly and methodically. As the facts become known, consider the attacker's objectives, who the target population is (i.e. whom this event was supposed to terrorize), anticipate reactions and counter-reactions. How do the attackers expect us to respond? Who will we act upon and how will they respond to that? Play this out step-by-step, several steps ahead. As more facts become known, continually adjust your explanations to be consistent with and to incorporate those new facts. Discard explanations that are inconsistent with the facts, retain only those (and there may be more than one) which are. Do not become emotionally attached or invested in your initial ideas; be intellectually flexible.

Good luck.