Appeasement
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Authors
Moran, Daniel
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Date of Issue
2003
Date
April 2003
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
"Appeasement" is a word much in the news lately, and one whose application to policy is always negative. It is the political equivalent of a swear word; other examples include "fascism," "totalitarianism," and "aggression": all expressions whose use implies not merely disagreement or disapproval, but stigmatization. Among such anathema, "appeasement" stands out as the only one that derives from the politics of a democracy. It refers to the foreign policy of Great Britain toward Germany in the 1930s, a policy deemed so unwise as to involve not merely misjudgment or misfortune, but craven weakness, self-delusion, and treachery. To accuse someone of appeasement is to associate him or her with a historical episode whose meaning is thought to be beyond dispute, and one whose lessons are so plain that only a fool could fail to heed them.
Type
Article
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Citation
Strategic Insights, v.2, issue 4 (April 2003)
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.