Obama Adviser: Pooh Bear, Luke Skywalker Hold Lessons for Foreign Policy

Foreign policy architects could benefit from studying Winnie the Pooh and Star Wars, according to a Barack Obama adviser who is set to attend a meeting of the Democratic candidate's national security work group Wednesday.

FOXNews.com

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Foreign policy architects could benefit from studying Winnie the Pooh and Star Wars, according to a Barack Obama adviser who is set to attend a meeting of the Democratic candidate's national security work group Wednesday.

Richard Danzig, former Navy secretary under President Clinton, drew several creative and unusual analogies to explain the challenges America faces overseas during a foreign policy conference in Washington, D.C., last week, according to an article in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

In arguing that the country should back off a policy that causes too much pain, Danzig said, ""Winnie the Pooh seems to me to be a fundamental text on national security."

He read a section from the children's book where Pooh Bear hurts himself going down the steps because he hasn't stopped to think of another way.

During his address to the Center for New American Security, Danzig also said much can be learned about the motivations of terrorists by looking at, for instance, soccer fans who become absorbed by violence or even the Star Wars movies.

According to the article, Danzig said a terrorist from the 1995 Tokyo nerve gas attack once told him: “We have been raised on a theory of superheroes. We all want to be like Luke Skywalker."

Danzig argued that anyone who leads a "mundane" life and loses his or her ambition can be tempted by the promises of an extremist group or leader.

Danzig was expected to meet Wednesday as part of Obama's 13-member Senior Working Group on National Security. It includes former members of Congress and high-ranking Clinton administration officials.

Click here to read more on the Obama adviser in The Daily Telegraph.

 

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