I try to take the argument several steps further, including outlining how each of us can resist the urge to find ultimate meaning in politics
Secularization in the U.S. leads to very different outcomes than secularization in the Middle East. Secularists in the U.S. need politics. "Secularists" in Arab countries, because they're still relatively religious, don't need politics quite as much
There is nothing wrong with winning a culture war. What's odd about this state of affairs, though, is that an ascendant left, despite increasingly finding itself in power, acts as if it's still in the opposition
As @RichardHanania points out, liberals win because they care about politics more, which creates a lopsided imbalance that raises the existential tenor of politics. The war over culture was won in a rout. It's not even close
The result is an intensification of what Carl Schmitt called the "friend-enemy distinction." The friend-enemy distinction is a dangerous idea when taken to its natural conclusion. So one must find a way to stop it from reaching that conclusion
Because we are broken by sin, and because we are living in history, it is difficult to subdue an otherwise enduring human impulse. The impulse to have and define an enemy will remain with us as a testament to human deficiency
This is a must-read from @dmarusic on the "missionary position" in foreign policy. The first two paragraphs are amusing and unexpected, drawing on Christopher Hitchens' provocatively-titled book on Mother Teresa. 1/x
Something has changed in the American worldview. There has always been a particular kind of religious certainty about progress. But it has changed. The religious certainty remains. Today, though, when the arc of history bends, it bends in the passive voice. 2/x
This is ultimately why, despite my anger at how Biden did it and his lack of empathy, I couldn't help but support withdrawal from Afghanistan. (And I'd rather have America stop its often-horrific drone war featuring military brass who shrugged at collateral damage). 3/x
For today only, @dmarusic & I are un-paywalling our two most recent @WCrowdsLive essays. Check them out! Here’s mine—a reflection on counterfactual histories, novels, politics, fear, and the long, slow process of losing hope
Some of you know I've been reading and thinking about James Salter's "Light Years" to the point of minor obsession. Anyway, the novel features this wonderful, if slightly depressing quote. 2/x
This essay was my best attempt to illustrate, with an unusual structure, how the personal and political intertwine in unexpected ways. I wanted to do something a bit more experimental to convey how lives slowly build over time. 3/x
We don't usually do this, but we're un-paywalling my latest @wcrowdslive essay for 24 hours. Sign up for free to get it delivered straight to your inbox at 9am tomorrow: wisdomofcrowds.live/signup/
We'll also be lifting the paywall on @dmarusic's latest essay, which makes a bold argument that helps put into perspective the last few weeks of anger and frustration over Afghanistan and how to remember what went wrong
My essay on the legacy of 9/11 is out in @ForeignAffairs. This is my attempt to take stock of what went wrong and how—with a focus not on our own tortured souls but on the people of the Middle East
Americans tend to lament 9/11 for how it divided us and led us into disastrous wars. As bad as it's been for us, though, it's been much worse for the Middle East. The past two decades have been the most costly and tragic in the region's contemporary history 2/x
After 9/11, Arab regimes took their cues from the Bush administration and used the "War on Terror" to fight their own largely unrelated battles. 3/x
It's interesting to watch leftists and progressives hail a speech where the president doubled down on his cruel, Kissingerian disregard for non-Americans. Callous, stubborn, and completely lacking in self-criticism. "America First" but this time under a Democrat
I don't understand why supporting withdrawal means you also have to be cruel and indifferent to the fate of millions of Muslims, but I suppose that's where we are now
Whatever Biden is on foreign policy, it's definitely not "progressive." It's nationalist and Trumpian
"I'm tempted to conclude that, despite laying claim to the skills and talents of the best and brightest, America is uniquely bad at foreign policy, particularly as it relates to anything having to do with Muslims"
Short of having a president with a fundamentally different outlook toward Muslim-majority countries, I'm not sure a better U.S. foreign policy is possible. Or, at least, someone at the level of Tony Blinken or Jake Sullivan, neither of whom have a particular interest in this
The Coordinator for the Middle East under Biden is Brett McGurk, who while competent is not an original, strategic thinker on these issues. Which is fine—if you think Middle East policy just needs to be competently managed