Reflection #5

At the beginning of our class discussion on Thursday, the challenge of dealing with a giant alien spaceship seemed off topic from the one which we had read the night before: constructivism. However, upon reflective on this topic tonight, the concept of having to adapt our ideals to completely new situation, that could either hurt or help us, constructivism completely applies. We would have to re-evaluate our current take on foreign policy, and we would have to decide on how we wanted to be perceived by this new group of beings. Constructivists believe in constant change and open endings. In our class discussion, we came to a consensus that the main fear of the situation arose from the fact that the future relations between our country, and even globe, and whatever is inside of the spaceship are undecided, and open ended.

Constructivism also applies to the way we would treat this situation within our own country. We debated over whether or not a media blackout was necessary, or if we should evacuate the Washington D.C. area. The constructivist theory is centered on the concept of adapting oneself to the current situation, and reacting to different people in different ways based on preconceived social norms and instincts. Another question that produced a wide range of answers was whether or not we should make the first interaction once the ship landed. And if so, who should it be? A constructivist will not say that since our further relationship with these aliens is based on how they initially react to our primary action. Therefore, we reached the conclusion that maybe we should send Obama, or Hillary Clinton out first. However, the problem then shifts to concern for our safety. Is it more important to protect our leaders, or to make a welcoming first impression? I was pleased with the conclusion we developed by the end of class: we should be prepared with our military on defense mode, but we should not make assumptions because their situation is, again, like a constructivist would claim, open ended.