The Pros And Cons Of Securitizing The Other

However, discriminatory measures are certainly not supported by Judaism, the shared identity between the majority and the Israeli government. As a peace loving religion, Judaism affirms that all men are of equal value and worth, and are inherently pure and good. Similarly, American military airstrikes that kill civilians are not democratic, as they violate the grounding principle of basic human rights as the state cannot take away. Thus, by taking actions that are not supported by Judaism and democracy respectively in combating the threat of the Other, these countries fail to effectively promote and abide by the common identity upon which they have securitized the Other. Hence, it is clear that ulterior socio-economic and political motives lie in the adoption of discriminatory policies by the Israeli government and the increase in military air strikes by the American government, although they are publicized as efforts to mitigate the
This is demonstrated by Richard Jackson’s research on the changes of counterrorism policies between the tenures of George Bush and Barack Obama as the American President. Jackson believes that historical counter terrorist activities beginning after 9/11 have informed the narrative that America is the world’s guardian of liberty. He believes that military intervention and liberating American population from the threat of the Other has thus been infused with the existing political culture and the American democratic identity. As a result, changes to discourses in the future will require utilization of existing counter terrorist approaches to gain public support as historical counter terrorist policies have now been embedded into the shared identity between the American government and people. Therefore, although America’s military measures often do not adhere to democratic values, the American perception of democracy has been altered by the permanent state of