When Knowledge Is Critical

THE Cold War stretched from 1945 to 1991, and somehow the West ended up on top: Soviet Communism gave up. Then we had our “holiday from history”: ten years of almost no concerns. Sure, there was a Khobar Towers here, a U.S.S. Cole there. But Muslim terrorists were always acting up, weren’t they? They were something to put up with, like the weather. And then came 9/11, and a new cold war.

During the original cold war, America and the West built up many institutions, aimed at countering Communism, understanding the Eastern bloc, and communicating with people under the lash. Have we done the same in the War on Terror? Not even close, as George Shultz emphasized in an interview with me last January. It is a failing of these recent years-and we should get busy.

About the Author

Jay Nordlinger

Jay Nordlinger was a senior editor of National Review and a book fellow at National Review Institute.

Featured Tags

THE Cold War stretched from 1945 to 1991, and somehow the West ended up on top: Soviet Communism gave up. Then we had our “holiday from history”: ten years of almost no concerns. Sure, there was a Khobar Towers here, a U.S.S. Cole there. But Muslim terrorists were always acting up, weren’t they? They were something to put up with, like the weather. And then came 9/11, and a new cold war.

During the original cold war, America and the West built up many institutions, aimed at countering Communism, understanding the Eastern bloc, and communicating with people under the lash. Have we done the same in the War on Terror? Not even close, as George Shultz emphasized in an interview with me last January. It is a failing of these recent years-and we should get busy.