Event Summary

In the run-up to the Iraq invasion, the Bush administration adroitly stoked public fears of nuclear proliferation and terrorism. New research by American Environics finds public support for military action against Iran if it acquires a nuclear weapons. How can progressives advance a nonproliferation and disarmament agenda in this context?

RSVP by emailing Nandini Merz, Proteus Fund, dmerz@proteusfund.org

Event Description

In the run-up to the Iraq invasion, the Bush administration adroitly stoked public fears of nuclear proliferation and terrorism. New research by American Environics finds public support for military action against Iran if it acquires a nuclear weapons. How can progressives advance a nonproliferation and disarmament agenda in this context? Does marrying the concepts of terrorism and nuclear proliferation in our messages help us with the public audiences we are trying to reach?   What does more than 40 years of political psychology teach us about the unconscious and irrational drivers of voter opinions?  How can progressive avoid the psychological pitfalls posed by the public’s complex fears about Iran, terrorism and nuclear weapons?

As part of a project sponsored by the Proteus Fund, American Environics partner Michael Shellenberger will present the findings from a major research study commissioned by Proteus Fund, Open Society Institute, Columbe Foundation, Ploughshares Fund, Ford Foundation, and Educational Fund for America, into the underlying psychological and values drivers of opinions on nuclear and national security policy. This work included a literature review of academic research by political psychologist Dr. Robb Willer (UC-Berkeley); a values-based segmentation of the electorate; cognitive analysis of focus groups; and a survey-experiment testing two different national frames.

Peter Scoblic, Executive Editor of The New Republic and author of U.S. vs Them: How a Half-Century of Conservatism Has Undermined America's Security, a critique of neoconservatism that draws on political psychology, will respond to the presentation and propose ways for progressives to shift the debate.   The workshop will conclude with the presenters offering practical applications of this data.

Speakers