Vigilance as Metaphor: The Foreign Policy of Ronald Reagan

Abstract

level we are mute. This silence is particularly damaging for an assessment of the foreign policy of Ronald Reagan, as his strength is precisely at this general level; his knowledge of particulars is almost universally derided. The most serious consequence of our inability to abstract from the specific issues is our inability to predict Reagan's future actions. Mixed signals are not unusual in the conduct of American foreign policy. But lacking a metaphor, we cannot evaluate and weigh these signals in the Reagan administration. For example, let us consider U.S. foreign policy in Central America. There is an uneasiness about Reagan's next step in Nicaragua: Will he invade? If we choose to give weight to the police action in Grenada and the shrill rhetoric, we are led to believe that invasion is likely. If we emphasize the handling of the crisis in Lebanon and the electioneering speeches of the new Reagan, however, we are led to believe that invasion is unlikely. Which are indicative of Reagan's foreign policy: signs of intervention or signs of caution? Reagan and his foreign policy staff have delivered speeches explaining their actions and philosophies, but these are of limited use. Long explanations are easily misinterpreted, contradicted, forgotten. Consider long explanations of the threat of communism in Indochina. Without an image the threat would have been distant and irrelevant—a matter for experts. But remind us of the dominoes of our childhood, collapsing ever faster onto each other until all had fallen, and we could understand. In 1. Quoted in Noted with Pleasure, The New York Times Book Review, 25 November 1984, 47, from Robert Frost: Poetry and Prose ed. E. C. Lathem and L. Thompson (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1984). VIGILANCE: THE FOREIGN POLICY OF RONALD REAGAN 135 the context of that metaphor we could begin to protest against the war: Even if we did not know where Laos or Cambodia were, we could assert loudly that we rejected the metaphor. Consider as well the image of containment, a less vivid but not obscure metaphor. It was easy for us to imagine the Soviet Union as a dehumanized enemy bent on expansion, and easier still to rally behind the forcible containment of these communists. The Cold War was also an accessible metaphor, particularly while the hot war was vividly recollected. The strength of these metaphors is not just their accessibility, but also their generality. They have described and clarified widely diverse events and strategies. When we consider the usefulness and even the comfort of these terms, it becomes all the more evident that we are now groping through four more years of foreign policy that is post-detente, post-cold war, and post-containment. It is a policy for which we have no language. But let us think of the images of Reagan's foreign policy. The image of the United States that Reagan projects is a strong, proud, rejuvenated America whose parallel with Reagan's physical person is remarkable, a parallel strengthened by his recovery from the assassination attempt. This strong nation is on guard, surrounded by hostile forces: Russians to the east and west, Cubans and Sandinistas to the south, terrorists abounding. We must be wary. Thus we talk tough to the Russians; we criticize negotiations; we reject a communist regime in Grenada. But we don't want to become overextended; we are cautious. We make threatening noises in Lebanon, but pull out before the costs are too high. We dislike the Sandinistas, but we send in the cia, not the marines. The image reminds one of a cat who is ready to pounce. The cat crouches, every muscle tense, eyes and ears alert to any disruption. Sometimes the tension mounts, and the cat's hind legs quiver (the evil empire speech); sometimes a paw whips out and catches a bug (there goes Grenada); sometimes the cat takes a slithered step forward (missiles in Europe) and sometimes a step back (withdrawal from Lebanon). The cat is sending signals: Don't touch me. I am watching your every movement, ready to fight. The cat is strong, muscular, tense. Vigilance is the metaphor that describes this image. Ronald Reagan's foreign policy is the policy of vigilance. Vigilance is an apt metaphor because it is accurate, accessible, and flexible. It extends the previous metaphors of containment and the cold war, and its definition provides a useful lens through which to analyze Reagan's foreign policy. vigilance: (1) watchfulness in respect of danger or hazard; (2) readiness or alertness, especially to respond to stimuli.