Internal-structure threats are easier to dramatize than external military threats

Evidence

The preparedness movement tended, in fact, to aggravate anti-German nativism, partly because its emotional tone suggested vague dangers of foreign aggression, partly perhaps because it was easier to play up an internal menace than to show how European armed forces could threaten the United States. Psychologically the hyphen could serve as surrogate for enemy fleets or armies. — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 1176

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth pressing: does the preference for internal over external enemies mean manufactured ‘fifth column’ threats will regularly trump real strategic threats in nationalist politics?
• XREF: connects to: Internal apostates are treated as more dangerous enemies than external infidels

Broader Connections

• Internal apostates are treated as more dangerous enemies than external infidels #exemplifies (0.78)