"Black Watch," A New Play

Gregory Burke's new play, Black Watch, premiered at this year's Edinburgh Festival, and this NPR report by Rob Gifford (8/29/06 - 4:40) provides an unusual, non-American look into the Iraq War. The "Black Watch" of the title refers to a famed Scottish regiment, and the piece details the fierce local loyalties of the soldiers. A Scotsman interviewed in the group compares American marines, who fight for their country, with Scottish soldiers, who, he claims, are more interested in defending their villages, perhaps not unlike so much of the reporting from Iraq itself that focuses on neighborhoods inside Baghdad or villages or cities such as Fallujah.

Classroom thoughts

• The NPR site notes how "Scots have long formed a disproportionate percentage of the British military, from Waterloo to Kosovo." What is your sense, based on high school experience or friends generally, of who is serving in the U.S. military?
  
  
• We often hear international conflict explained as a global war or clash between civilizations--for instance, those who believe in freedom versus those who do not. Yet, this piece suggests that local loyalties, basically to one's village, even one's family (in some places, they may be the same), may play a much bigger role in global conflict than we admit. What do you think?