Jasmine Tillu
History 151
Professor Schwartz
May 6, 2003
Response to Articles by Stern and Pfaff
Rereading the two articles by Stern and Pfaff after the completion of this course has allowed me to view these articles from a different perspective. This was the first European history class I have ever taken, so it was the first time I have learned about history like the Holocaust formally. Now knowing European history in greater detail, I have made many links and now understand why current situations are the way they are today. One of the most important things I have learned in this class is that it is crucial to study and know the history of a country or place in order to effectively think about the present and future.
In Stern’s article entitled “Century of Building Blocks for the New Europe,” he brought up the idea of how Europe’s history has greatly shaped and influenced the present. Stern noted George Orwell’s statement: “He who controls the past controls the future; he who controls the present controls the past.” Stern strongly believes that people must know and realize the value of their history in order to understand the present and predict the future. After reading this article for the second time, I have realized the importance of Stern’s statement, not only for Europe, but for all the countries in the world.
In Pfaff’s article, “America in History: Realists don’t buy the Wilson line,” Pfaff raises the idea of the American proposition that America needs to continue to be the dominating hegemonic power for the world in the future. Many also argued that that the hegemony proposition is related to a debate about whether the goal of America’s foreign policy and hegemony should be the promotion of democracy to countries that are not democratic. This idea opens new questions since the war on Iraq. The aftermath of the war is now going on, along with the “restructuring” of Iraq. What exactly does this mean? This is American foreign policy, but is it exactly the promotion of democracy to countries that are not democratic? Is this America’s hegemonic power continuing into the future? There will never be a consensus among everyone, but what is clear is that Pfaff is emphasizing America’s world status and its responsibilities it has as a world power; That it needs to step up and realize their history as well as the histories of the world in order to understand their future status.