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International Relations
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Strategic Pedagogy and Pedagogic Strategy

James Gow

Kings College London

Despite trends to consider film in the context of international relations, there has been very little real focus on how filmic sources can assist the understanding of war and peace. There is merit in analysing film in its own right; however, beyond this it can be a useful device for teaching and researching particular wars and aspects of them, as well as the relationship of film to war in general. This is demonstrated here by reference to the films about the Yugoslav War of the 1990s. However, exploring the detail of combat or cause or social impact in a particular conflict is not the only role film can play in teaching or research strategies. It is within the power of the moving image medium to explore the very essence and character of both a particular war and the very nature of war itself. This is shown to be the case with Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, where the constant tussle between escalation and ethics, which underpins the conceptual frames of strategy, relating ends and means, is evident. War ceases to be war if the restraints are removed. When they are, the ‘river of escalation’ leads into the dark-hearted loss of soul, the critical loss of political perspective and purpose and the apocalypse of futility.

Key Words: Apocalypse Now • conflict in film • escalation • strategy • war films • Yugoslav War

International Relations, Vol. 20, No. 4, 393-406 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0047117806069401
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