A state is not a church. A state exists not to redeem humankind or to do God’s work but to provide for the security and well-being of the people who reside within its boundaries. This defines the primary, indeed the overriding, moral obligation of those who govern. This dictum applies to those who . . . . Continue Reading »
Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East
From the October 2002 Print EditionFrom the perspective of Israel and its (few remaining) friends, the Six Day War was”and remains”both just and necessary. Nothing in Michael Oren’s book calls this basic judgment into question. Yet thirty-five years after this seemingly decisive victory, Israeli citizens cannot ride . . . . Continue Reading »
The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power
From the August/September 2002 Print EditionLess than a year after the attack of September 11, Americans have just about succeeded in absorbing the war on terror into their daily routine. In the home, the classroom, and the workplace, normalcy has returned. For most of us, the day said to have changed everything has changed remarkably . . . . Continue Reading »
The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism and The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love, and Terror in Algeria
From the April 2002 Print EditionAbdulaziz Sachedina is a man with a mission. He is determined to demonstrate that when it comes to the West’s relations with Islam, there need be no “clash of civilizations.” Properly understood, Islam is compatible with”indeed, is positively conducive to”democratic . . . . Continue Reading »
Like Israelis and Palestinians eyeing each other suspiciously from adjacent hilltops in the West Bank, Americans who were on opposing sides of the Vietnam War may share the same space, but there should be no confusing cohabitation with reconciliation. Even in the best of times, what passes for . . . . Continue Reading »
Present Dangers: Crisis and Opportunity in American Foreign and Defense Policy
From the March 2001 Print EditionIn 1996, Robert Kagan and William Kristol published a widely read article in Foreign Affairs advancing the case for unabashed American hegemony”benevolent, to be sure”on a globe“straddling scale. In arguing for a “neo“Reaganite” foreign policy, the authors, two of . . . . Continue Reading »
Political Will and Personal Belief: The Decline and Fall of Soviet Communism
From the March 2000 Print EditionThroughout the Cold War, Sovietologists contended fiercely with one another over the nature of Communist regimes. Engrossed in that pursuit, they missed altogether the one development that really mattered. Taking for granted the permanence of the Soviet Empire, virtually none of them perceived its . . . . Continue Reading »
The dawn of the new millennium finds the United States flirting once again with its old Wilsonian Temptation. When Woodrow Wilson set out to “make the world safe for democracy,” he acted with the certainty that Providence had chosen this nation as its agent of global salvation. This was . . . . Continue Reading »
Andrew J. Bacevich Copyright (c) 1999 First Things 94 (June/July 1999): 26-30. As part of its professed commitment to “complete the unfinished business of the Second World War,” the Clinton Administration last year released its second and final report on “Nazi Gold.” Drafted . . . . Continue Reading »
Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America and The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America–The Stalin Era
From the May 1999 Print EditionTo label the period after 1945 “The Cold War” is to misconstrue the ideological contours of our times. In the decades following the Second World War, Americans found themselves embroiled in not one but at least two cold wars. The seemingly more dangerous of the two”the political and . . . . Continue Reading »
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