The BBC has just ended its latest series of Central Intelligence on Radio 4, a dramatisation of the activities of the CIA since it was set up at the end of the Second World War. These episodes, which generally cram an entire year of high political scheming into half an hour, make compelling listening. As a story of the history of post-war America and its nefarious dealings with the rest of the world it’s fairly convincing, although one can never tell what agenda the team making it might have.
One thing stands out, however; if America had been less selfish and more considerate of the needs of ordinary people in countries where it had interests it might not have produced the counter-productive consequences with which many of us live today, and it might be in a far better place in the rest of the world’s minds and its own internal political stability.
For time after time the three series so far depict Americans conflating any government seeking to better the lot of its people with communism, often because that involved negative consequences for American assets in the country concerned. This, coupled with a fear of that ideology, led to ridiculous plots to interfere with local politics which either backfired disastrously or plunged the country concerned into a pro-American but equally murderous regime. The first result is treated as comically ironic, the second as tragic, one feels, by the programme’s producers, though the characters remain deadly earnest throughout.
Leaving aside the possible propaganda element, there is a serious message here about the short-sightedness of seeing every problem only from the narrow perspective of the viewer, without considering the aspirations of others. That is not to say the CIA did not see those aspirations, indeed, that was its entire purpose as would be true of any intelligence service, but that it failed to appreciate the value of satisfying those desires and needs as a means of defusing the danger at source.
People turn to extremists when they are dissatisfied with the status quo and that has long been the case in poorer countries. Now we see it happening in rich countries too, destabilising their social and political order even while the extremists offer themselves as the hope of preserving or restoring it. It is the logial consequence of the mismanagement of affairs by politicians who cannot see the big picture, or cannot see it from a big enough viewpoint, and it didn’t have to be.
Maybe if America had lived up to the ideals of its post-war rules-based Order we, and it, wouldn’t be facing the danger of its destruction today.
K J Petrie has a Full Technological Certificate in Radio, TV and Electronics, an HNC in Digital Electronics and a BA(Hons) in Theological Studies.
His interests include Christian and societal unity, Diverse Diversity, and freedoms from want, from fear, of speech, and of association. He is a communicant member of the Church of England.
The views expressed here are entirely personal and unconnected with any body to which he belongs.
