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March 21, 2006
Hubris and Nemesis
Strike a pose [fuego81/flickr]
Last night, Open Source recorded Neo-Conservatism: The Last Throes? with Niall Ferguson and Francis Fukuyama. The show gave these two prominent public intellectuals a chance to reflect in the state of American foreign policy ideology on the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. I highly recommend listening to the show, which is available at the same link.
Hubris and Nemesis are terms that Ferguson proposes to describe the greatest challenges to American Empire. In the first case, the United States vastly miscalculated the situation in Iraq and the ramifications of occupation. The Iraqi debacle has not only been extremely costly, but it has kept the United States from addressing the real mounting threat, Iran. Ferguson says that one of his major faults was not recognizing how much Iran would benefit from instability across the border. For some, apparently, the winds of war are always blowing.
Each in his own way, Fukuyama and Ferguson agree that the failure in Iraq show that the United States cannot sustain its aggressive behavior. Fukuyama urges a return to internation norms and cooperation. Ferguson insists that realism should not be abandoned because decisive military force and 'nation building' was mis-applied by an inept regime.
Posted by Henry Shepherd at 12:19 PM | TrackBack
March 19, 2006
Mitt? Short for Mitten?
The BBC's From Our Own Correspondent allows seasoned journalists to share the stories behind their stories. The result is often as insightful as it is pithy. They read like charming letters to a friend back home, telling the tales of the curious rituals and institutions that often seem unremarkable to the unwitting subject.
Fitting, then, that today's piece by Justin Webb, Republicans begin long road to 2008, introduces the world to the Long March that is the pursuit of the Presidential nomination in the United States. He describes the party meeting he sat in on outside Des Moines, Iowa, as one part school board, one part national convention, with Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney playing the part of the humble and gracious suitor, sitting on the living room sofa and peppered with questions before he is allowed to take Jane to the movies.
He did not, of course, mention the presidency.That would have been a ghastly blunder, akin to jumping into bed before even flirting, which in Iowa is something only farm animals do...
It was all very warm and gentle and wholesome: a fitting way to begin the selection of a presidential candidate in a nation which, for all its meretricious airs, has a simple homespun gentility at its core.
For the majority of Americans, who, like my friend quoted in this post's title, have yet to be introduced to Mr. Romney, the next two years will be a mix (if they happen to live in a swing state) of folksiness and big money theatrics (if they live anywhere else). It is gratifying to see that at least one international service is taking a closer look at a process that is often covered as if it were a political soap opera acted out only in the corridors of power.
Posted by Henry Shepherd at 11:08 AM | TrackBack
March 18, 2006
Saturday afternoon reflection
Listening to Open Source's show on Convergences, I was moved to add a note before digging into my work.
This blog is the realization of my passion for seeing the connections between the seemingly disparate aspects of my life, work and studies. Rather than compartmentalize my interests and knowledge, I use my whole appetite and all of my experiences, whether I am reading the Odyssey or writing about the War in Iraq or debating the obligation to obey political authority.
It is appropriate that my high school's last words on me were "there are no short conversations with you, for ideas do not exist in isolation... Connections suffuse all you do."
This may be why I spend a lot of time thinking about what I want to study-- and how I want to study it-- over the next two years at Brown. The great theoretical works cannot be carved up and sorted by discipline without much of their complexity being stripped away. In a similar way, one cannot treat these works as if they are made of different stuff from the comments and observations that reverberate in the popular common sphere. So I'm grappling with Brown's curriculum-- and its Independent Concentration policy-- and designing a program in "Social, Ethical, and Political Thought." I've compiled a complete list of courses that interest me, and I'm working on a table of courses that is modeled on Harvard's Social Studies.
My work on Milosevic last week was as exhilirating as anything I've done in months, perhaps since Boing Boing linked to Tri Repetae, a UN worker who is blogging from Liberia (Open Source story).
What has made this new medium so exciting is that it is more radically open to participants than any of its recent predecessors. Within 12 hours of my deciding to survey reaction to Milosevic's death across the Balkans, I received a half dozen letters and posted them here and on Open Source. My readership quadrupled, with visitors coming from across the world in droves (from Serbia And Montenegro, Bosnia And Herzegovina, Ukraine, Croatia, Belgium, Switzerland, Australia, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, and the United Kingdom in the past four days).
Hopefully, some of these new readers will hang around, comment, and contribute as I spring from story to story, all while I relate news from my own studies. In an ideal world, it will be like the international terminal at Heathrow, only with duty free conversations instead of duty free purchases.
Posted by Henry Shepherd at 03:58 PM | TrackBack
March 15, 2006
Aleksandar Macasev, Belgrade
Milosevic is dead, long live Milosevic
spectre over Serbia (again)
The problem with Slobodan Milosevic's death is that he is still alive. Milosevic, like every other leader, does not appear on the scene by incidental strike of faith. Every leader is a sheer product of the people. A collective projection of desires into one man. Three months ago I participated in an exhibition with the work called Human after all*. At the beginning of the text for the work I said: "Sloba (Slobodan Milošević) didn't fall from Mars. He was created by the Serbian people". As well as American people deserves George W Bush.
Nothing actually changed, as we all witnessed, with Milosevic's fall, arrest or death. During the "revolution" of the 5th October 2000 the only person who could replace him should be neutral and blend enough not to irritate nationalists and to vaguely fit into sort of a democratic option. That choice was Vojislav Kostunica who was completely insignificant during the protests but fitted perfectly the image of compromise. An empty container that awaits to be filled with people's desires. And he was filled. So after 5 years we have almost the same situation: nationalist who is buying time and tries to make every good doer tired. The only figure who could have changed something was Zoran Djindjic, progressive prime minister who was killed three years ago. Not killed by some hired assassins, but killed by majority of the people. The strongest political option in Serbia right now is Serbian Radical Party, right winged nationalists whose sole purpose is to irritate. People still wants them. As my friend said recently: "Let them have radicals ruling the country. When people realize the true nature of Radicals maybe we will be able to move on". So, obviously nothing actually changed after 5th of October 2000. "Slobodan Milosevic" frame of mind remained.
During the trial in the International court in Hague, Milosevic was almost forgotten. Everybody was tired of the endless testimonials and his arguments. With his recent death he came back to haunt Serbia again. I've heard of his death at the opening of some exhibition on Saturday, 11th of March. "You gotta be kidding" was my reaction. No feelings of any kind. In the afternoon the media were overwhelmed with speculations, news and guessing. One voice was the loudest: "They have killed him". It remained the loudest after three days. Speculations about his health condition, poisoning, all kind of conspiracies... Older generation of sentimental citizens lighting candles in front of the building where his party is situated. Speculations about the place where he should be buried. Belgrade, Russia, his hometown... Some people crying. I don't know how many of them cried for the killed and crippled young men sent to wars by Milosevic. All that "forgive and forget" made me very angry. People have very very short memory. Certainly forget, but never forgive.
Bizarre coincidence is that former prime minister Zoran Djindjic was assassinated on March the 12th three years ago. Even the memory to this progressive man was clouded with the spectre of Slobodan Milosevic. All the media is trying to pay some sort of respect to Djindjic, but Milosevic's death is actually the hottest media stuff. History's sarcastic sense of humor.
Milosevic was one of the last European dictators of the low intensity when compared to major historical ones. People in Serbia actually never touched the bottom because Milosevic was very good in retaining the social peace. People of Serbia was miserable, unhappy and poor, but never hungry. We have never crossed the final line when you literally have nothing to lose and than you can make a real change. Like in Romania.
The latest news is that Marko Milosevic (late Slobodan Milosevic's son) has taken the body from Hague and Milosevic will probably be buried in Belgrade. It is not known weather the widow, Mira Markovic, will attend the funeral because of the criminal charges against her. You can find the news on the issue on www.b92.net/english
Posted by Henry Shepherd at 09:14 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 14, 2006
"Seesaw," Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
["Seesaw" blogs at Balkan-Scissors]
As for the reactions in Bosnia, they are devided as you can guess (and read), most Serbs in Republic Srpska think Milosevic was a hero, and behave according to that, Bosniaks (Moslems) and Croats in Federation BiH think it is shame Milosevic died before the end of the trial.
Personally I can say I did not follow his trial - I was a living witness of his political career and saw enough with my own eyes. I did never think well of his ideas...
To me Milošević was nationalist and populist, and the politician who played the main role in dissolution of Yugoslavia.
I must add I spent the war in Sarajevo (1992-1995.) and saw so much suffering... I am not Moslem but visited Srebrenica and could not believe my eyes...
But I also saw many graves in Republic Srpska of Serb soldiers, and for a decade now I have been witnessing the poverty of people from former Yugoslavia - Serbia particularly - all that being - mostly - the result of ambitious, nationalist and populist policy of Slobodan Milosevic.
But as you could notice on my blog I am not willing "to join the company" so to say and prefer to keep my mind focused on other things. After all Milosevic does not deserve so much publicity, never did, and always had it.
Posted by Henry Shepherd at 06:34 PM | TrackBack
Ed Alexander; Zagreb, Croatia
[Note: Ed Alexander made this post to his blog, Balkan Baby.]
With regards to Milosevic, the scene has been very reserved. No street celebrations, but a quiet pleasure that he has finally died. Here in zagreb, not as many people were personally affected by the man compared to those in Bosnia, Eastern Croatia, or Kosova. In general people in Zagreb would have liked to see him suffer the indignity of being convicted of war crimes, but its not the big issue that it is in Kosova for example, because the mentality is diferent. Croats themselves don't trust the Hague (Gotovina is there now), so they don't care about the judgements given their, they dont respect it as an institution. So long as they themselves know that he is guilty that is all that matters, who cares what a dutch courtroom says or Carla Del Ponte, she doesn't understand, she's from switzerland, she's an outsider, we know what crimes he commited against us.......... that's the view here.
Here in Zagreb, the word Milosevic is a dirty word, you just try to avoid mentioning it. Opinion hasn't changed, people weren't really following his trial too closely, afterall, the most important thing in their eyes was just that he is out of power so that the croatian people have the security that he can't launch another war against them. Now that he's dead it's even greater confirmation, so I guess you could even call it relief as much as anything.
The longterm effect of the Milosevic death is hard to predict, nobody can tell for sure, after all, the Balkans is the most unpredictable region in the world. Either, this will be like closure on the Milosevic chapter and Serbia will be able to move closer the the EU, seeing his socialist party fade away into nothing... Or, there will be a nationalist sympathy towards a man who many Serbs saw as their protector, a man who said he would never let Serbs be abused as they were in Kosova. He will become the martyr he always wanted to portray himself as and hence his power which had gradually diminished while he was incarcerated will now grow. Personally, both in the sense of likliehood and what i desire, I predict the first scenario.
Milosevic was a terrible man, now we must pray that serbia, a country with its destiny in its own hands has the sense to follow the correct path. Firstly and most importantly, allow Kosova the freedom which it deserves, then in the same breath hand over Mladic and karadzic, we all know that elements very high up in the Serbian government are protecting them because these politicians have secrets to hide also, and finally understand that Serbia is not the regional powerhouse it used to be. Whilst life was good under Tito in yugoslavia and countries prospered, Serbia is not the successor to Yugoslavia, hence montenegro for example understands that it will gain more as an independent nation compared to funding the belgrade government with its tourist revenue. Serbia can craft its own place in europe, with its distinct culture, a beautiful culture too, but the recent past is not part of this beauty.
Posted by Henry Shepherd at 01:10 PM | TrackBack
Zeljka Grzinic; Rijeka, Croatia
[Zeljka blogs at green-mind.com.]
When the war started, I was 12. From the very beginning I was very aware of the things that were happening - but after some years you get numb - the pictures of rotting children corpses on the TV becomes something you get used to - unfortunately! I was lucky no-one in my family died in the war, so maybe I'm just a little more forgiving than the people who watched their houses burn and their family butchered. I can't speak for them. I can only say that as far as I'm concerned - I'm glad Milosevic is dead because there's an evil less in this world, I'm sorry he's dead because he won't be rotting in a jail the next 20, and (again) I'm glad he's dead because, if he had lived, he would have spent those years in a luxury cell, having more comforts than most of the people who he wronged. I hope he's buried in Belgrade, and I hope his wife will be too worried for her freedom to be present. Everything he touched turned to blood - and I hope karmic retribution is a true concept - if it is, he'll be back as the most downtrodden and wronged person on the planet. And this is me being forgiving! I think people here are mostly relieved that he's dead - with his sugary lies and false indignation he could still sway the naive ones.
After his arrest, and even before - when the war finished, we tried to rebuild our lives not thinking about him - not giving him the satisfaction to hurt us some more from his jail cell by poisoning our thoughts. What happens next? I don't know - but I hope we'll have collective amnesia and forget he even existed. He is a person who deserves to be forgot (because, obviously, the human race doesn't learn from past mistakes).
Posted by Henry Shepherd at 01:00 PM | TrackBack
Sasa Nikolovski, Bečej, Serbia
[Sasa Nikolovski blogs at Bečej - Óbecse: My town, my river, my people.]
I was on job today (I'm working at a school) and nobody was talking about him. Only comment was about his funeral (where he will be buried). I belive that some pensioners, or old partisans will care about him, but other people have other problems (money...). Of course, some political factions will utilize his death but... What we can do? We live in democracy now!
I live in north of Serbia, and in the south the situation is different, but not drastic. Milosevic is just an old story...
[Note: this letter was lightly edited for clarity]
Posted by Henry Shepherd at 12:43 PM | TrackBack
Rachel Long, Belgrade
[Rachel Long blogs at Pustolovina: adventure in Serbian.]
I heard about the death when someone rushed into a seminar on the future of Kosovo to proclaim "Milosevic died in The Hague." My first thought (and the first though of everyone else) was, "is it true?" The group spent the next half hour trying to make the broken TV in the corner of the room work, find a radio station that wasn't playing music, or call friends to confirm the news. [Some recent big news - like the reported extradiction of Mladic, has been retracted later. No one wanted to react until we knew the truth.]
The response in Belgrade has been underwhelming. Later in the day, I went out on the street to see if there was any sort of reaction, public mourning, anything. There wasn't. People seemed more concerned with the honey festival going on in a main square and the newly opened Nike stores on the main shopping street. I think the 'general public' (if there can be such a thing) is tired of politics. Carla del Ponte and EU officials are on the TV news ever day demanding the extradiction of Mladic and Karadic. Montenegro will be voting on its independence from Serbia in a few months. Peace talks on the final status of Kosovo are beginning. Serbia and Montenegro could be a much smaller country by this time next year. It's all a lot for someone to pay attention to, especially someone who struggles to eat and to stay warm, as many Serbians do.
I work for Women in Black, a feminist anti-militarist organization, unfortunately very much on the fringes of Serbian society. Around the office and in the activist community as a whole, there has been a greater response. People are frustrated that his trial is over, that all of the truth of what he has done will not come out, that he will never be officially branded a war criminal. My boss is thinking of putting together an unofficial 'women's tribunal' in which the rest of the trial could happen. Others are worried that he will be deified, that his death will be tied into the many conspiracy theories of some sort of USA-EU-UN conspiracy against the Serb people. People are worried about where he will be buried, if his wife will be allowed back into Belgrade without facing criminal charges. [She is currently living in Moscow to escape the charges against her.] They don't want him to recieve a full state funeral or be buried in a place that could turn into a site for pilgrimmage.
Additionally, the day after Milosevic's death was the third anniversary of the assassination of Zoran Djindjic, a much more democratic, reform-minded, and western-oriented leader. Will the future commemorations of Djindjic's death be overshadowed by the anniversary of Milosevic's? Time will tell. . .
Posted by Henry Shepherd at 12:40 PM | TrackBack
Milosevic story for Open Source
I'm working on a story about Milosevic's death for Radio Open Source. If you have any comments, please make them on this post.
If you are in South/Eastern Europe or have a connection to the region: what did you and the people around you think of Milosevic, his trial, and the resolution of the conflicts over the past decades? what does his death mean for the region? what happens next? what is justice in this case, and who should get to decide it? and what about the autopsy and funeral? is this just conspiracy theory stuff, or will it shape how the majority of Serbs or Croats or Muslims (or any other group) deal with the episode?
Comments from any reader are most welcome. You may want to read Kosova Report or A Petty Hitler, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wesley Clark's stunning indictment in today's Wall Street Journal. That post may not adhere to copyright rules; suffice it to say that you should find some way to read the article.
The people at Open Source want me to take more iniative and come up with my own feature ideas. As I was combing the blogosphere for posts on the death of Milosevic, I realized that this space could be used as a clearinghouse for comments that could end up on the Open Source site. Hopefully, it will give prospective contributors a place to share ideas and stories. It might be a great way to liven up Thayer and Charlesfield with visitors from around the world as I address various topics.
Posted by Henry Shepherd at 12:18 AM | TrackBack
March 13, 2006
Scare tactics
Well, when those missiles slam into the Iranian nuclear facilities, don't say I didn't warn you.
Niall Ferguson's Telegraph Op-Ed, Watch out, this lame duck president has nothing to lose, is the most recent in a series of articles that foretells a preemptive strike against Iran or, barring that, World War III. The most alarming article, The origins of the Great War of 2007-- and how it could have been prevented, would have sent me into hysteria... if anyone else had seemed to match his concern. In short, he predicts that the United States' unwillingness to adhere to its preemption policy will precipitate a nuclear exchange between Israel and Iran. Certainly, nuclear Iran is on the top of a very short list of issues that is simmering on the international agenda, but despite Ferguson's bluster, the United States does not seem to be the frontrunner.
Of course, that may be changing, as Ferguson suggests, as the President toughens up his rhetoric and tries to refocus Americans on the threats they face. Is this what the first stages of manufactured consent feel like? Bush's greatest triumph may be that he has changed the terms of debate among many, if not most, Americans. Six years ago, who among us sat with friends and handicapped our chances of invading uncooperative states, or wrangled with troop deployment figures, imagining with a mix of wonder and disgust at the possibility of occupying still more of Southwest Asia. The real coup is the acceptance that these are reasonable topics of discussion.
There ought to be a special place for Dr. Ferguson as this drama unfolds. He should remain responsible for his public positions, whether the Iran situation subsides or explodes. I'll do my best to follow the arc of his alarm and condeming certainty.
Posted by Henry Shepherd at 11:12 AM | TrackBack
March 12, 2006
Habermas on intellectuals and new media
Jürgen Habermas [minmax/flickr]
Der Standard is running the transcript of Jürgen Habermas' Bruno Kreisky Prize acceptance speech to the Karl Renner Institute. Unfortunately, only a short segment is available in English (I've contacted the Institute for a full English version):
On the one hand, the communication shift from books and the printed press to the television and the Internet has brought about an unimagined broadening of the media sphere, and an unprecedented consolidation of communication networks. Intellectuals used to swim around in the public sphere like fish in water, but this environment has become ever more inclusive, while the exchange of ideas has become more intensive than ever. But on the other hand the intellectuals seem to be suffocating from the excess of this vitalising element, as if they were overdosing. The blessing seems to have become a curse. I see the reasons for that in the de-formalisation of the public sphere, and in the de-differentiation of the respective roles.
My work at Radio Open Source makes me think about the role of "experts," especially academics, journalists and policy-makers, in current affairs commentary. I talk a lot about how the show can seem to move down parallel tracks, because we use extremely well-placed sources who are accustomed to working with major media organizations and bloggers who have little or no "expert" status. Of course, Open Source has picked up on one of the big ideas with the Internet: oftentimes, the best source is the person who is living a major news story. When you replace a talking head with a dimensional, invested, on-the-ground participant-observer, you re-prioritize the authenticity and immediacy of the story. That's the hope, at least.
One fascinating byproduct of Open Source's access to high caliber public figures, whose views and expertise often add a great deal to discussion, and interest in voices from across the spectrum of the Internet is a dialogue that begins to bridge the gap between analysts and witnesses. The broad theorizing of a political scientist can be combined with the sentiments and observations of a person watching an event unfold in the square below her window. Our show may be a model for one way of adapting the role of well-worn experts to work hand-in-hand with the rising class of prime sources.
Posted by Henry Shepherd at 01:49 PM | TrackBack
March 11, 2006
Under construction: Dubai, Shanghai, and this blog
Sometimes, when I am exposed to a cluster of related ideas or topics, I fall between the cracks and end up in a new world, in which I am held captive by my own obsessive curiosity. True to form, in between reading about economic development, Dubai Ports World and China, and fell into the skyscraper subculture. I'm looking forward to writing about that here, and maybe even at Open Source.
Other bits and pieces:
- I'm pursuing usage rights for pictures that may help illustrate another post about Empire, entitled "Our Turnus?" that will discuss the event that I feel has shown my generation the disconnect between America's infallible and glorious ideals, and the policies that it enacts with zealous abandon.
- Review my earlier post on Empire, now with comments by Marinos Pourgouris and Benjamin Stevens.
- I'm researching for a blog feature about international hip-hop for an upcoming OS show. I've been reading essays, like Planet Rock, by Robert Chrisgau in the Village Voice, and International Hip-Hop, on Global Village Idiot. I'm working up the courage to cold call MCs who tour the world to get their take on what they've seen and heard.
- Finally, I'm still not sure how I feel about this site's layout. I'm hoping to make comments visible on the front page, and I'd really like to figure out how the columns and alignment work. Please leave any aesthetic or structural advice, and please propose other ideas for discussion.
Posted by Henry Shepherd at 06:27 PM | TrackBack
March 08, 2006
Heifer Project and heartache
I spent the first month of my year off between high school and college at Overlook Farm in Rutland, Mass. The farm is run by Heifer Project as a demostration of the sustainable agriculture and livestock breeding that it puts into practice in scores of countries around the world. As such, it is home to a delightfully diverse cast of animals and environments. Peter the Yak keeps watch over a yurt. A pair of water buffalo and a mess of pigs live under/near a Thai wetland house. Six llamas are psychologically hemmed in by stone walls they could easily jump (simple creatures don't question the boundaries placed before them) in Little Peru. In between, there are chickens of every breed, beautiful horses, cows, goats, sheep, cats and herding dogs.
My month on the farm was as invigorating as it was thoroughly relaxing. After six years of prep school, I was tired. Tired of doing the kind of work that Marx considered alienating: work done to satisfy some distant end. Tests, papers, insurmountable reading, 14 hour days, unending inadequacy. I needed a break and I needed to work, to exert myself, at the same time.
So I traded exams and ideas for simple labor. Up at 6, morning chores (milking, mucking, herding, hauling and cleaning), building walls, fixing fences, hoisting hay, and everything else that happens on a farm. And it did everything that I could have asked, and more. In the valley beyond our pasture, I saw not only rolling mist but also a new beginning as each day broke. I'll never forget what I learned about work, and about my capability to reflect. I hope I can go back someday.
So I was understandably sad this morning when I read that the Overlook Farm barn burned down yesterday, killing 10 goats, dozens of chickens, and a duck. The staff managed to save an equal number, including the horses, the rest of the goats, sheep and chickens.
So this evening, my heart goes out to that farm, and all farms, where people mix their life with their work and end up with a net gain (of products, of sensitivity, of placidity, of their selfhood recovered). The good work of the Heifer Project, a force for farmers around the world, should not be lost in all of this.
Good night.
Posted by Henry Shepherd at 12:55 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 06, 2006
Housing is the most critical need...right up there with levees
Six months on: steps that used to lead to part of Physicians' Hospital, New Orleans, now lead to rubble. [Bart Everson/Flickr]
I spoke with Bart Everson a few weeks ago about his experience returning to New Orleans after Katrina (I wrote a feature about his Carnival experience for Open Source), and I've been reading his blog, b.rox, ever since. Bart, aka Editor B on Flickr, is documenting the state of his neighborhood in Mid-City, where he and his wife, Xy, are the only residents who have returned.
Bart posted this video and Katrina + Six today. It is a quick glimpse at the progress (or lack of it) being made in his little corner of the world. Overall, his blog offers an incredibly frank and yet still hopeful, personal account of his new life.
Posted by Henry Shepherd at 06:17 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
For these I set no limits, world or time,/ But make the gift of empire without end.
Nilotic pool at Hadrian's Villa, Tivoli, outside Rome [Benjamin Stevens/Rome 2005]
So Jupiter promised Venus as her favorites, the Trojans, were scattered and barred from entering Latium. We are reading Virgil's Aeneid in "Odysseus Across the Ages," and I could not help but, again, fixate on the universal tone of these great stories, especially as they relate to world events today. Virgil moves both forward and backward in his epic, claiming Trojan ancestry for Rome, and confidently projects, at the height of the Empire, a future of glory and domination.
These are among the roots of our modern concept of empire. We, too, write our future history. In my education, at home, in the classroom, and in the fields of Lazio, I have been continually reminded of imperial hubris. Rather than using the declarative, we employ the conditional to inspire vigilance and the unending quest for improvement. Each faction gives its own warning, and its own solution.
Two books found their way onto my desk this weekend (one by airmail, from my grandfather, and the other from the Harvard Bookstore). In Militant Islam Reaches America, Daniel Pipes articulates an unambiguous and (comparatively) sophistocated defense of the conservative foreign policy agenda as it relates to terrorism, the Muslim world, and the future of America. In The End of Poverty, Jeffrey Sachs makes the case for responsible and sufficient international economic cooperation between rich, developed states and those in varying stages of growth and poverty. It is a case, primarily, for ensuring the prosperity of the poor through policies that will doubly benefit global powers like the United States.
Each in his own way, these contemporary commentators offer a vision of an empire without end.
I plan on expanding on these themes over the course of the week, and I would appreciate feedback. If you are intrigued by this or any other post I have made, please leave a comment with questions or suggestions. I'm still figuring out how to bring my ideas together on this page.
Posted by Henry Shepherd at 11:13 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
