Critique of Dissent From War by Robert Ivie Essay

The book Dissent from War by Robert Ivie argues that the capacity of democracy to realize peace is embedded in dissent and grounded in rhetorical contingency. The book elucidates that presence of dissent depicts to be a healthy sign of promoting peace and attests to democratic citizenship. I agree with the author's argument that dissent is a productive and responsible act even though it has been viewed to be dangerous and a threat to national security. Agreeably, Ivie's opinions are extremely impressive and portray a version of pacifism that is grounded in citizenship together with solidarity. Indeed, one would agree that no comparative text provides such compelling dissent against the act of war as Ivie's book. The claims are conscience, and the author manages to persuade the reader as he advocates for peace.

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Ivie was a former US Navy officer, and hence, his arguments revolve around the war experience and portray validity. He is able to put a microscopic language of war and support his opinions with historical facts. In the book, the author backs his views by following the lives of soldiers as well as anti-war activists who significantly encountered adversaries in war. He also notes that these people had to bear guilt about their opposition to the war. He correctly argues that an informed dissent plays a major role in the realm of rhetoric war. From this consent, Ivie is able to equip the reader with strategies that could be used in resisting the dehumanizing propaganda language used in war. The author presents a careful study of language strategies, and through this, he is able to foster a community in which voices of dissent are vital and valid.

From the book, the writer is able to draw his long-standing expertise in war rhetoric through explaining the failures of the modern day opponents of the war. As such, his insightful analysis of the contents he presents denotes to be not only proactive but also a timely application to the issues that face the nation in the current world. The conflict between the US and Iraq is a good example. The book is essential and would appeal to scholars and people who have an interest in practicing effective dissent. Through the broad-ranging, compelling and intriguing text, the author challenges the ways of the marginalized dissent from war. He also brings to light the general peacemaking efforts that continue to haunt many nations in the world. Indeed, his arguments are binding even to the real-life situations like in presidential public address. The presidential discourse normally denotes to be a manifestation of aberration of the nation's political culture. As such, the address showcases the country's troubled democratic identity and it is a revelation of the cultural significance of lethal entailments and thus presenting a culture of war.

Ivie backs up his argument by drawing largely to the rhetorical theories of Kenneth Burke. He even goes ahead to confirm the claims through using the works of Chantal Mouffe and Ernesto Laclau. Agreeably, the democratic dissents are clearly elucidated, and thus the issues of war provide informed consent on war rhetoric in contemporary American history. Arguably, the book is a pillar of a more robust dissent, and as it ends, the author notes that the new millennium failed to propagate peace but instead perpetrated an empire that paints the nation as an American zeitgeist (Ivie, 2007). The sources used to reinforce the arguments and make the book reliable. Besides, Ivie analyses the communication practices of powerful war dissenters and advocates together with explaining a wide range of texts found in films and news.

More importantly, for a reader to understand the contemporary militarization of American culture, Dissent from War highlights to that one should not look at the war episodes but rather focus on the conditions of war. According to the author, the issue of militarism has its deep roots in the history of US, and it has fundamentally shaped major issues such as foreign policy, economics, people's social life and politics. In his argument, Ivie majorly focuses on the past 60 years and chronicles the acts of militarism that are deemed vital to the history of Americans. The author starts by showing the challenges that war dissenters encounter when they approach their tasks. The challenges include "a weak democratic culture enabled by a compliant media, the policing of dissent in public discourse that labels dissenters un-American, and cultural attitudes of moral superiority and exceptionalism" (Ivie, 2007). The statement implies that in order to initiate transformation in the culture of war, people need to comprehend proliferation of the war, and how it is done and accomplished in communication practices. Thus, the book argues that communication tends to be the critical glue which holds tensions in an ongoing war. Moreover, he alludes that communication promotes war in the US public life and thus it is not only the seed of dissent but also a transformation.

What is more striking is that, in laying out the challenges that dissenters face in war, the book performs a critical rhetorical analysis of the numerous types of public address. In this case, the dissent of war denotes to be a significant contribution to the scholarship in war rhetoric, the culture of war and media studies. The "savage other," Ivie argues, "has been the trope basic to American justifications of war, from declaring independence to fighting terrorism and everything in between. It is the standard rhetorical move that rationalizes war and quiets, but never fully settles, a troubled conscience" (Ivie, 2007). Hence, the quote conjures an American belief that perpetuates American exceptionalism. Citizens become victims of social drama, and as a result, adversaries have ensued irrationalism, aggressiveness, and savages. The book also correctly manifests the historic capacity of war rhetoric showcasing how it undermines the human solidarity across international lines (Ivie, 2007). Also, Ivie reports that rhetoric war advocates for a homogeneous and militarized national identities in the nation. Ivie strongly expresses dissenting views in a stultifying atmosphere in a war culture which denounces dissent. It cuts through political orthodoxy and dissenters have to sustain the vitality of democracy. In a healthy democracy, rhetorical act is encouraged and denotes to be an antidote to political repressions.As such, the book is a critical examination of contemporary antiwar rhetoric. It traverses the reader through the acts of good and evil and captures the discourses of dissenters. Ivei highlights the practices of war dissenters like Ward Churchill and points out the warlike practices of reverse recrimination and thus attributes the darkest motives in an imaginable way. Many people are used to thinking that history is defined by wars along with punctuations of peace lapses. However, the author manages to challenge the ways in which people marginalize dissent from wars along with efforts directed at fostering peace. Ivie is thus able to draw the attention of the reader on the American policy and other popular historical movements such as the Civil War and manifests how they are mirrored to the current world. He then shows the way individuals readily fall into the patterns of demonizing enemies and how the patterns shape national principles and religious commitments. The sources he uses which range from his heroic family efforts at the time of civil war to the collective response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack are reliable and reinforces the arguments. The sources provide an eloquent, brave and passionate way of reclaiming democracy from war.

Conclusion

Ivie in his book Dissent from War makes an enormous contribution to democratic practices by calling for peaceful actions through communication, validating the acts of power and indicating that Americans need to check the rhetorical habit of recrimination. He confidently writes the challenges of war in an elaborative way in his attempts to promote a more peaceful world. The magnificent book tackles the life and death issues as well as shows the way people can transcend the communication habits in efforts to create a language of fraternity, compassion and renewed citizenship. The book does offer elegant case studies which navigate across the American history. The arguments are concise and persuasive, and Ivie boldly explains the pervasive failures of modern-day opponents of the war. The insightful analysis articulates provocative descriptions. In a nutshell, the book Dissent from War is a masterpiece whose arguments are an accurate reflection of the world realities.

Reference

Ivie L. Robert. (2007). Dissent from War. New York. Kumarian Press