Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Negotiation Nonverbal Communication Secret # 1933:
Iran's Aggression and their Military's Salute -
A Visual Metaphor of WWII & Nazi Fear



















Iran's Military salute is very similar to the Nazi salute initiated in pre-WWII Germany. I thought of including a historical image for comparison - but that is not necessary. Immediately when we look at this recent picture, those of the 1930's and early 40's evoke other dark images, empathy (for their victims) and pain. The act of not including such a photo illustrates just how strongly the Nazi World-view is cemented fearfully in our mind and minds-eye, even though most alive now were not alive then. The vast majority of people experience these painful emotions in historical context, or perhaps by stories told or read, etc.

From a pure body language point of view, the Iranian salute is even more caustic than the Nazi's. The closed-fisted message is more dominant and violence provoking than Hitler's open, palm-down configuration. Of course, neither is welcomed.

Iran again announced today that it would attack preemptively any country which it perceives as a threat to it's national interests. Israel and Iran have traded threats for some time. This comes as tension in the Mideast grows and the IAEA, the United Nations' nuclear monitoring body, begins another set of talks with the Iranian Government in an attempt to ascertain the full scope of Iran's nuclear intentions.

___________________________________________________________________________________