There is something almost soothing about watching Dwight D Eisenhower’s 1952 US presidential campaign ad: “I like Ike!” Portraying an animated parade of marching citizens – and a musical elephant – the antiquated TV spot sings “hang out the banners, beat the drum, we’ll take Ike to Washington” in such an upbeat tone that it is almost hard to believe that it was a bona fide political broadcast.
The “Eisenhower Answers America” series of political ads – where Ike rails against high taxes and food prices – were more stern. Yet the very fact that US politics had room for such unbridled optimism showed that fear, at least in part, had not crudely seeped into political campaigning.
More than half a century later, fear is such a prevalent part of world politics that we would almost be lost without it. Even before wealthy Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump called for a halt to Muslims entering the US last year, American politics had been awash with scaremongering. In this century alone, US TV viewers have been treated to Republican David Perdue who, running for the US Senate in 2014, hit voters square in the jaw with his images of ISIL pouring over the American border. And in the same year, the Republican National Committee asked the voting public to “vote [Republican] to keep terrorists off US soil”.
Negative campaigning has certainly not been confined to those shores either. In the UK, the June 23 European Union referendum has been the subject of hot debate. Leave campaigners have accused their opponents of stoking fear in a bid to persuade the British public to continue their decades-long EU association.
UK defence secretary Michael Fallon recently conjured up a whole plethora of threats when he said “leaving would only bring comfort to our enemies, whether they are sitting in Moscow or terrorists sitting in Raqqa”.
Scare tactics were even used during the campaign to change Britain’s voting system for Westminster in 2011. Here, one advert pictured a baby in hospitalised with tubes in her nose alongside the words: “She needs a new cardiac facility, not an alternative voting system”.
There’s nothing like fear to capture one’s attention. As products of our environment, fear can concentrate the mind like little else. Political strategists know this – which is why they use it and use it to great effect. Fear can have a legitimate place in political discourse. As this century’s atrocities in Paris, Brussels, London, Madrid, New York and all across the Arabic-speaking world and beyond testify, bad things often happen to good people. And we should rightly be warned.
But politics is about control – and gratuitously playing the fear card is about as low as it gets for power-hungry politicians seeking to persuade the electorate to put them into office, keep them in office or maintain the status quo.
In an age where the likes of ISIL are banded about for shock value, outgoing US president Barack Obama’s vote-winning “politics of hope” mantra, that saw him first elected to the White House in 2008, appears like something from a bygone age rather than from less than a decade ago.
Fear has today become an unmistakable stain on much of the conduct and discourse of global politics. Amplified by social media, it has gripped us all and made cynics of many. Fear scares the most vulnerable in our world – and appeals to the most bigoted.
And when it’s shamelessly exploited by Donald Trump et al, fear can work wonders on securing support from sections of society, as the billionaire’s “Make America Great Again!” campaign has found to its considerable electoral success.
But the very fact that he has pledged to mend his ways now that he is the presumptive Republican candidate tells you a lot about how he really views his current chances across America at large.
As Muslims continue to be removed from American planes – in one recent case for just speaking Arabic – such scaremongering has a lot to answer for.
Politicians everywhere have a responsibility to provide their electorate with hope, aspiration and inclusiveness – not to churn out baseless and spurious nightmares.
But as the political sentiments of “I like Ike” fade into the dim and distant past, the politics of fear appear a hard habit to break.
Alasdair Soussi is a freelance journalist, who has worked across Africa, Europe and the Middle East
On Twitter: @AlasdairSoussi
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And%20Just%20Like%20That...
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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MATCH INFO
Manchester City 2 (Mahrez 04', Ake 84')
Leicester City 5 (Vardy 37' pen, 54', 58' pen, Maddison 77', Tielemans 88' pen)
Man of the match: Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
Vikram%20Vedha
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Emirates exiles
Will Wilson is not the first player to have attained high-class representative honours after first learning to play rugby on the playing fields of UAE.
Jonny Macdonald
Abu Dhabi-born and raised, the current Jebel Ali Dragons assistant coach was selected to play for Scotland at the Hong Kong Sevens in 2011.
Jordan Onojaife
Having started rugby by chance when the Jumeirah College team were short of players, he later won the World Under 20 Championship with England.
Devante Onojaife
Followed older brother Jordan into England age-group rugby, as well as the pro game at Northampton Saints, but recently switched allegiance to Scotland.
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Martin Sabbagh profile
Job: CEO JCDecaux Middle East
In the role: Since January 2015
Lives: In the UAE
Background: M&A, investment banking
Studied: Corporate finance
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
FINAL LEADERBOARD
1. Jordan Spieth (USA) 65 69 65 69 - 12-under-par
2. Matt Kuchar (USA) 65 71 66 69 - 9-under
3. Li Haotong (CHN) 69 73 69 63 - 6-under
T4. Rory McIlroy (NIR) 71 68 69 67 - 5-under
T4. Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP) 67 73 67 68 - 5-under
T6. Marc Leishman (AUS) 69 76 66 65 - 4-under
T6. Matthew Southgate (ENG) 72 72 67 65 - 4-under
T6. Brooks Koepka (USA) 65 72 68 71 - 4-under
T6. Branden Grace (RSA) 70 74 62 70 - 4-under
T6. Alexander Noren (SWE) 68 72 69 67 - 4-under
THE BIG MATCH
Arsenal v Manchester City,
Sunday, Emirates Stadium, 6.30pm
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
Credits
Produced by: Colour Yellow Productions and Eros Now
Director: Mudassar Aziz
Cast: Sonakshi Sinha, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jassi Gill, Piyush Mishra, Diana Penty, Aparshakti Khurrana
Star rating: 2.5/5
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The biog
Full name: Aisha Abdulqader Saeed
Age: 34
Emirate: Dubai
Favourite quote: "No one has ever become poor by giving"
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
South Africa v India schedule
Tests: 1st Test Jan 5-9, Cape Town; 2nd Test Jan 13-17, Centurion; 3rd Test Jan 24-28, Johannesburg
ODIs: 1st ODI Feb 1, Durban; 2nd ODI Feb 4, Centurion; 3rd ODI Feb 7, Cape Town; 4th ODI Feb 10, Johannesburg; 5th ODI Feb 13, Port Elizabeth; 6th ODI Feb 16, Centurion
T20Is: 1st T20I Feb 18, Johannesburg; 2nd T20I Feb 21, Centurion; 3rd T20I Feb 24, Cape Town
The specs
Engine 60kwh FWD
Battery Rimac 120kwh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry
Power 204hp Torque 360Nm
Price, base / as tested Dh174,500
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
KEY%20DATES%20IN%20AMAZON'S%20HISTORY
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You may remember …
Robbie Keane (Atletico de Kolkata) The Irish striker is, along with his former Spurs teammate Dimitar Berbatov, the headline figure in this season’s ISL, having joined defending champions ATK. His grand entrance after arrival from Major League Soccer in the US will be delayed by three games, though, due to a knee injury.
Dimitar Berbatov (Kerala Blasters) Word has it that Rene Meulensteen, the Kerala manager, plans to deploy his Bulgarian star in central midfield. The idea of Berbatov as an all-action, box-to-box midfielder, might jar with Spurs and Manchester United supporters, who more likely recall an always-languid, often-lazy striker.
Wes Brown (Kerala Blasters) Revived his playing career last season to help out at Blackburn Rovers, where he was also a coach. Since then, the 23-cap England centre back, who is now 38, has been reunited with the former Manchester United assistant coach Meulensteen, after signing for Kerala.
Andre Bikey (Jamshedpur) The Cameroonian defender is onto the 17th club of a career has taken him to Spain, Portugal, Russia, the UK, Greece, and now India. He is still only 32, so there is plenty of time to add to that tally, too. Scored goals against Liverpool and Chelsea during his time with Reading in England.
Emiliano Alfaro (Pune City) The Uruguayan striker has played for Liverpool – the Montevideo one, rather than the better-known side in England – and Lazio in Italy. He was prolific for a season at Al Wasl in the Arabian Gulf League in 2012/13. He returned for one season with Fujairah, whom he left to join Pune.