God, economic benefit and enemy´s construction in Barry Levinson’s wag the dog

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze some of the foreign U.S. policy strategy key points that have remained for several centuries through the film Wag the Dog (Barry Levinson, 1997). The film shows how this strategy combines antagonistic aspects such as materiality (financial gain) and spirituality (religion). The "Manifest Destiny", formulated in 1845 but whose origins date back to the arrival of the first British settlers in the early seventeenth century, allows Americans to expand, to intervene other powers affairs and to start conflicts having God on their side. The United States becomes freedom guards inside and outside its borders. This means confronting those who seek to end their system, their way of life. Construction of the enemy becomes a key element in justifying the war.