The Grand Delusion - New York Times

This is a very well written op-ed by David Brooks of the Times, and well worth reading, about the battle of civilizations being between societies who have begun to measure their success in terms of economic prowess, versus those who "define [their] greatness negatively through acts of anti-Western defiance" and traditional zero sum nationalism. He does a good job calling out the incompetence and venality of all our leaders, Republican and Democrat, in failing to be up to the challenge, so far.

I once heard David Brooks describe himself as a "poor man's Thomas Friedman" policy wonk. In many respects he is, though perhaps more willing to call out our extremist enemies, rather than Friedman, who prefers to look at the corrupt Arab governments who are the biggest cause of the extremists (yes, in my opinion, a much deeper and more serious cause for the growth of extremism than our failed implementation of nation-building policies in Iraq). Read the article below.

The Grand Delusion - New York Times