For Those That Like To Read, A Lot!

[Annie]

Commentary magazine is celebrating their 60 anniversary. They decided to hold a symposium, asking regular contributors to respond to some questions:

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/article.asp?aid=12004023_1#GAFFNEY

Defending and Advancing Freedom

A Symposium

To commemorate Commentary’s sixtieth anniversary, and in an effort to advance discussion of the present American position in the world, the editors addressed the following statement and questions to a group of leading thinkers:

In response to a radically changed world situation since the Islamist attacks of 9/11, the United States under George W. Bush has adopted a broad new approach to national security. The Bush Doctrine, as this policy has come to be known, emphasizes the need for preemption in order to “confront the worst threats before they emerge.” It also stresses the need to transform the cultures that breed hatred and fanaticism by—in a historically stunning move—actively promoting democracy and liberty in the Middle East and beyond. In the President’s words, “We live in a time when the defense of freedom requires the advance of freedom.”

This sweeping redirection of policy has provoked intense controversy, especially but not only over its practicality, and especially but not only over its application to Iraq. At issue as well are the precise nature of the threats faced by the United States and the West, the specific tactics adopted by the Bush administration in meeting them, American capabilities and staying power, relations with traditional allies, the larger intentions and moral bona fides of U.S. foreign policy, and much else besides. Opinion on these matters is divided not only between the Left and the Right in political and intellectual life but, quite sharply, among American conservatives themselves.

1. Where have you stood, and where do you now stand, in relation to the Bush Doctrine? Do you agree with the President’s diagnosis of the threat we face and his prescription for dealing with it?

2. How would you rate the progress of the Bush Doctrine so far in making the U.S. more secure and in working toward a safer world environment? What about the policy’s longer-range prospects?

3. Are there particular aspects of American policy, or of the administration’s handling or explanation of it, that you would change immediately?

4. Apart from your view of the way the Bush Doctrine has been defined or implemented, do you agree with its expansive vision of America’s world role and the moral responsibilities of American power?

They have 36 responses, which are fascinating, but obviously long. I'm ploughing through them...

 

[USViking]

Commentary is one of the magazines I subscribe to;
the others are the Economist, and the National Review.

I have perused the essays in the last Commentary,
and none convinced me, not that I have convinced myself.

Paul Johnson is the one I most believe, with his emphasis
on a Nietscheian Will To Power. I was convinced to begin with
that Iraq was the right place to exercise power. Now I am
less certain, although embarked as we are, it must be made right.

 

[Adam's Apple]

Thanks for bringing this to the board, Kathianne. Looks like something I will tackle--all 77 pages of it! Hope I have enough ink left in my printer to make a copy. I have to order my ink from Dell, so I can't just go to Staples and pick up a cartridge.