Pitched Battle: Pat Answers

“NEITHER the frettings of our foundation-fed scholars nor the fulminations of our imperial press can change reality: The West is receding as a world force; it has been receding since the great bloodbath of 1914-1918. And, now, the American Century is almost over. Nor need we be morose at the prospect. No nation is less threatened in this new world than America, none better positioned to prosper and grow great. . . . Happy New Year!” Thus did Patrick J. Buchanan, columnist cum candidate, ring in 1994.

In Suicide of the West, James Burnham diagnosed midcentury liberalism as a pathology that rationalized each fresh defeat for the West as an advance. In the Nineties, Buchanan seems to be making defeats of advances: after all, Western culture has, for good and for ill, penetrated so many lands that the sun never sets on it. What he shares with the liberals of yesteryear is an odd mix of declinism and complacency.

About the Author

Ramesh Ponnuru

Ramesh Ponnuru is the editor of National Review, a columnist for the Washington Post, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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“NEITHER the frettings of our foundation-fed scholars nor the fulminations of our imperial press can change reality: The West is receding as a world force; it has been receding since the great bloodbath of 1914-1918. And, now, the American Century is almost over. Nor need we be morose at the prospect. No nation is less threatened in this new world than America, none better positioned to prosper and grow great. . . . Happy New Year!” Thus did Patrick J. Buchanan, columnist cum candidate, ring in 1994.

In Suicide of the West, James Burnham diagnosed midcentury liberalism as a pathology that rationalized each fresh defeat for the West as an advance. In the Nineties, Buchanan seems to be making defeats of advances: after all, Western culture has, for good and for ill, penetrated so many lands that the sun never sets on it. What he shares with the liberals of yesteryear is an odd mix of declinism and complacency.