saquigley@watmath.UUCP (Sophie Quigley) (06/20/84)
My understanding of the "domino theory" that I got from a talk by Noam
Chomsky and a few other sources I can't remember is that there are two
different versions of the same theory.
The first one for public consumption is the idiotic analogy between
countries and little dominos that are standing up side by side. You
push one and they all fall. The biggest and last domino is the US and
the finger is a bear's paw... Of course one never wonders about why it
is so desirable to have dominos stand up if they are in such an unstable
position, but anyway...
The "unofficial" one which makes much more sense is that if a little country
manages to have a "successful" revolution against the US (usually against
a US-puppet regime), it will work as an example to others countries
which will in turn try to have their own revolutions to free themselves
from US power, BAD news!!! The smaller and poorer the country,
the more dangerous the example is: after all if Grenada can do it, why
couldn't Chile, etc.... This theory makes a LOT of sense. In view of that
it is very easy to understand why it was so important to crush the Grenada
revolution and why the Nicaraguan one is also so dangerous.
Depending on the inclinations of the administration in power when the theory is
being applied, it becomes more or less tainted with undertones of the "communist
threat", but I find it interesting that the underlying theory seems to be
relatively independent of the idea of an east-west conflict. The remark sheds
some light on the current administration's behaviour towards Nicaragua. Right
now Nicaragua is receiving aid from the USSR, but it is still at the stage of
being "courted" by them rather than being one of their puppets. There is still
an incredible amount of room for an amiable supportive relationship between
the US and Nicaragua, so if the US was REALLY interested in not "letting it
fall to the ruskies" it could achieve that goal very easily by accepting to
treat Nicaragua as an economic partner on an equal footing. However the US
is not as worried about the Russians (understatement of the year: there is no
better way to push Nicaragua into Russian arms then the current policy) as it
is about NIcaragua's example spreading, so if it was to become partners with
Nicaragua, all other countries in South America would want to be treated as
equals too. Now, THAT would be disastrous economically!!! better lose Nicaragua
to the russians or even better yet, destroy it completely as an example to
anybody else who wants to get out of line.
Sophie Quigley
...!{clyde,ihnp4,decvax}!watmath!saquigley