Superheroes and Politics: Ideas from the MCU

From Homer to Chaucer to Shakespeare to the modern cinema, storytelling has been an integral part of communicating complex ideas. Humanity is deeply connected to this method, and some of the most important concepts are explained through fictional accounts. To help explore how analysts can use stories and narrative building, this newsletter will give a survey of ideas found within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), focusing on the characters of Captain America, Iron Man, and Black Panther. Learning to break down fictional characters and stories is also excellent practice for learning to deconstruct major issues in security and geopolitics. So, enjoy this brief survey of some major characters in the MCU.

Captain America: Liberty and Virtue

Captain America is symbolic of all that is best in the republicanism of the Founding of the United States. Republicanism centers liberty in government and society, deeply opposes arbitrary decision making by those with powers, and always stands up to tyranny. Standing up to tyranny has been central to the American political identity from the beginning. So much so that Benjamin Franklin even proposed Tyrannis Seditio Obsequium Deo Est (Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God) as the national motto. This is what motivates Captain America throughout the films: trying to join the US Army before he has his powers, fighting the Nazis and Hydra after he become Captain America, bringing down SHIELD/Hydra when the organization becomes corrupt (and refusing to let Nick Fury rebuild it), and opposing the UN taking over the Avengers because they would make arbitrary decisions. Steve Rogers puts it more simply, “I don't want to kill anyone, but I don't like bullies; I don't care where they're from.” Notice how Captain America remains stalwart on liberty against tyranny (bullies) throughout the cinematic experience.?That is because of his virtue.

Virtue as an ideal is essential to Captain America’s story. America’s Founders learned from the Roman civitas and Greek polis, and they assiduously called for civic virtues to be inculcated into the citizenry because no republic could stand if its citizens were not virtuous. As James Madison, the father of the Constitution, stated during the Convention, “To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical [imaginary] idea.” A republic could only defend liberty if its citizens were virtuous. Otherwise, democratic governments lead to tyranny just as much as a monarchy.

Within the MCU, the “super soldier serum” that gave Captain America his powers is a metaphor for democracy itself and how virtue determines its course. Take for example how it impacts the different people who take it. For Captain America, it enhanced his capabilities and virtues, making him a stalwart of republicanism. However, in the Red Skull, it disfigured him and made him hubristic and cruel (a metaphor for democracy in 1930s Germany). In Bruce Banner, the poor facsimile of the serum lead to an uncontrollable beast that unintentionally harmed everyone around it (a metaphor for democracy in cultures that are not prepared for it). In John Walker (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), the serum gave a veneer of respectability, patriotism, and power, but underneath he was insecure, childish, and unfit (a metaphor for modern American democracy untethered from virtue). In each of those unbound by republican virtue, the serum (democracy) became destructive.

The serum (democracy) offers both hope for people that are virtuous while offering a warning for those that are not. That is why Dr. Abraham Erskine told Steve Rogers before the procedure, “The serum amplifies everything that is inside. So, good becomes great. Bad becomes worse.” Democracy does the same.

Iron Man: Liberalism's Folly

Iron Man represents a kind of Whiggish teleology, a belief that the world is not only malleable but that as the “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist” he can lead humanity to the desired telos. Tony Stark also represents the idea of infinite progress in American idealism. When describing the still young country, the United States Magazine and Democratic Review wrote in 1839, "We are the nation of human progress, and who will, what can, set limits to our onward march? Providence is with us, and no earthly power can." Stark would agree. As he said in Age of Ultron, “I don't want to hear ‘the man was not meant to meddle’ medley. I see a suit of armor around the world…” Innovation and progress could lead to perfection. Yet this is never really what happens. Each of his advances causes new problems, and there is always a price to pay. Creating the suit led to Obadiah and Whiplash. Creating the Arc Reactor and Stark Tower allowed Loki to bring his Chitauri army from space. Creating Ultron led to the destruction of Sokovia. All innovation comes with sacrifice. Even his greatest innovation—time travel—led to Tony’s ultimate sacrifice: his life.

Chastened by the various failures his inventions caused and abandoning the idea of the superiority of the individual, Tony acquiesces to the power of a supranational organization over the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War. This is emblematic of the transition of American liberalism from its Jeffersonian roots to Wilsonianism of the 20th century. Tony abandoned one idealism for another. The new idealism was as equally successful as the last. Attempting to control the world through regulations instead of technology, the outcome was just as harmful. It broke up the Avengers, made the world weak enough for Thanos to attack, and allowed politics to dictate security. Tony’s optimism about human ingenuity and possibility for perfection is offered as a warning. Nature and humanity are not quite as malleable as the idealists like to think.

Black Panther: Tradition Defended

Ironically for some, Black Panther offers the most conservative vision within the MCU. Wakandan society, though technologically advanced, is a deeply religious, traditional, and tribal society that is opposed to outsiders and has a constitutional monarchy. Monarchy is the life-blood of Wakandan society as Bast (their deity) has blessed the Black Panther as the king and protector of the country. Essentially, Black Panther holds that the king is an agent of the divine akin to similar concepts in monarchies from Britain to Japan. Though their government is a hereditary monarchy, the tribes are a check on the monarch’s power whenever the Incoronation ritual takes place. In the film, both M'Baku of the Jabari Tribe and Killmonger fight T’Challa for the crown, reminiscent of the barons forcing King John to sign the Magna Carta in 1215. Wakanda has far more in common with the kingdoms of medieval Europe than it does with modern liberal democracies. The only person who challenges this established order is Killmonger, the revolutionary villain who wants to bring down all of this traditional society; Killmonger seeks universalism devoid of any attachment to home or customs. He has no oikophilia like T’Challa does.

Black Panther also offers a Burkean critique of revolution as revolution always equal conflagration. Killmonger epitomizes the destructiveness of revolution, no matter the good intentions of wanting to end oppression. The bête noire of history is the French Revolution that absolutely eviscerated standing institutions and customs. From the Church to the monarchy to even the calendar, the Rousseau-inspired Robespierre laid waste to all before him until the revolution turned on its former advocate. As the 20th century theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “The liberation of man as an absolute ideal leads only to man’s self-destruction. At the end of the path which was first trodden in the French Revolution there is nihilism” (Ethics, p. 103). Killmonger instituted that very same kind of nihilism through his usurpation of the monarchy, abrogation of standing Wakandan customs (even killing the priest, Zuri), and burning the heart-shaped herb (the symbol and power of the Black Panther).?Revolution can only destroy. It cannot create because institutions, customs, law, family—everything that makes civilization—take?generations building upon each other. Eliminate them, and we are left with nothing.

Superheroes and Politics

Our modern day superheroes represent a long tradition within literature of idealized individuals or tragic warnings to convey important concepts. The ancients had their gods and demi-gods, the Middle Ages had saints, and the moderns have superheroes. As mentioned at the start of this essay, storytelling is intimately tied to humanity's history and a critical method for explaining complicated truths. Analysts and security professionals should take heed of this and understand the lessons derived. A good story will be more impactful than a simple recitation of facts or dry analytics. Learn to tell a good story by studying artistic approaches, such as the MCU, and learn to deconstruct the complicated but enlightening philosophical ideas such stories hold.

June’s Cocktail: The Gin Martini

No cocktail better represents the suave and urbane world of geopolitics than the gin martini. David Embury described the martini in The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks (1948) as "the most perfect of aperitif cocktails." The simplicity of this cocktail is deceiving, for in only two ingredients the most effervescent synergy of flavors produces a magical moment of eureka. It is said the Sir Winston Churchill liked his martini so dry that a suggestive glance across the room at the bottle of vermouth would suffice. My recipe veers towards that great man's approach.

There are a myriad of ways to make the drink, but in truth there is only one right way to do it. The following is my recipe for the perfect gin martini.

1. Place the martini (cocktail) glass in freezer till chilled. (If you’re in a rush, you can fill it with ice while you make the rest of the drink, and then dump the ice before pouring it in.)
2. Get a glass (not metal) beaker. Pack with ice.
3. Pour precisely 2.25 ounces of dry gin (preferably Irish gin such as Gunpowder or Minke) into the beaker over the ice. (If you’re using a standard jigger, then that is the large side plus the small side.)
4. Stir exactly 15 times (no more, no less) with a bartender spoon. (Shaking bruises the alcohol and waters the drink down… I’m looking at you, James Bond…). Set the beaker to the side.
5. Take your martini glass out of the freezer (or dump the ice out) and wash the inside of the glass in dry vermouth. This means put a small amount of dry vermouth into the glass and allow it to coat all of the inside. Pour out the remaining vermouth if there is any.
6. Place a cocktail strainer over the beaker and pour the chilled gin along the sides so it mixes with the dry vermouth.
7. Use a peeler and remove the peel of lemon that is ? inch wide and 1.5 inches long. Squeeze the peel over the martini, and then twist it. Gently rub the peel along the rim of the glass. Place it gently into the cocktail.

And there you have it! The perfect gin martini! Now you can be suave and urbane as you read the latest Geopolitics and Gin.