John Ogunrinu Professor Peters. Poli 116 Midterm 2: Fog of War essay. What does the "Fog of War" tell us about the role of the individual in foreign policy decision-making? Write an essay of about 1‚200 words that synthesizes 5 of Robert McNamara’s lessons with material in the course text. The movie Fog of War is a documentary film directed by Errol Morris about former secretary of defense‚ Robert McNamara. First‚ this term fog of war means that it is unclear what one should do in certain circumstances
Premium Lyndon B. Johnson John F. Kennedy Vietnam War
Jack‚ Andrew and I presented on Fog of War. The documentary on Robert McNamara gives us his perspective on the situations the American government faced in the 20th century. Along with that‚ the documentary provides us with 11 lessons that could be taken from McNamara’s life. I myself focused my presentation on McNamara’s first lesson in the movie which was “Empathizing with your enemy.” In this lesson I learned how beneficial it could be to see from the enemy’s point of view. In the movie McNamara
Premium World War II Cold War United States
In the film “Fog of War”‚ one of Robert S. McNamara’s lessons of war was “Proportionality should be a guideline of war.” This means that the ends do not always justify the means; the means used to achieve the end should be reasonable. However‚ even in the movie‚ this is not the case. Unlike the other lessons‚ lesson # 4 has the word “should” in it‚ meaning that McNamara has not seen this lesson used yet. Proportionality is still not seen in the world today. It was also not used in the past‚ such
Premium World War II War United States
Los Angeles Times states that “The most rending kind of war is not between two hatreds‚ but between two hopes”. Correspondingly‚ Andre Dubus III introduces two hopes in the novel House of Sand and Fog written in 1999. Behrani and Kathy‚ two determined yet fragile individuals‚ come from different backgrounds that meet in the California hills struggles to gain social stability. The competing desires for the house leads to Behrani’s ultimate downfall. His obsession with the house comes from the ambition
Premium English-language films The House is Burning The Mistake
In the documentary Fog of War‚ former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara names eleven lessons he feels he has learned about war during the course of his life. They all come with a certain amount of merit‚ but the three that stand out the most are Lesson #1: empathize with your enemy‚ Lesson #4: maximize efficiency‚ and Lesson #9: in order to do good‚ you may have to engage in evil. Overall‚ these lessons are the most difficult to both execute in war and explain to the American public while simultaneously
Premium Cold War Soviet Union Cuban Missile Crisis
Walking Along a Familiar Path In Errol Morris’ documentary Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara‚ we follow the life and times of former United States Secretary of Defense‚ Robert McNamara. The insightful piece follows his life from birth during World War I‚ his success at college‚ cunning business career at Ford Motor Company‚ to his involvement in World War II and his controversial political career during the Kennedy and Johnson presidential terms. Morris highlights
Premium United States Vietnam War English-language films
“Triumph of the Will” and “Night and Fog‚” portray Hitler’s vision for Germany‚ and the findings of Allied liberators of concentration camps in the beginning of World War II. A comparison of the films present two very different views of what Hitler deemed necessary for Germany. They each displayed propaganda in a way they’re eye-catching simply because of the raw footage. It took everything that we knew about pre WWII and corrected it‚ so that we knew the truth about how the people of Germany felt
Premium Germany Film World War II
making some major decisions and giving important advice under loads of stress and pressure. Years after he left his position in the white house‚ he looked back on his life and provided eleven points of his own wisdom. Now let us examine the film The Fog of War and some of the points stated by the former Secretary of Defense and compare them to the ideas of Niccolo Machiavelli and see how the ancient philosopher might have praised or critiqued the ideas of McNamara. “Belief and seeing are both often
Premium Lyndon B. Johnson John F. Kennedy Vietnam War
Why Do You Have Brain Fog? Do you have trouble learning‚ remembering‚ and concentrating? If so‚ you may think there’s something seriously wrong with your mind. You’re not going crazy. More likely than not‚ your brain fog has a physical cause. You just need to figure out what’s happening inside your body and get it cleared up. What is Brain Fog? Brain fog is an impairment of cognitive function. This dysfunction is usually present at all times and causes problems with memory‚ cognition‚ learning
Premium Brain Psychology Nutrition
When watching The Fog of War the first thing I noticed as primary sources were the actual recordings of the conversations between McNamara and former Presidents‚ Kennedy and Johnson. In addition‚ his testimony of his accounts of his actions at those times would be considered primary sources‚ since it’s a first person report. Similar uses of primary sources were found in The Unknown Known‚ first person reports of situations that Rumsfeld participated in; however one difference was the use of memos
Premium Emotion