The liberal vision of a harmonious world dominates the liberal mindset of our day to the utter disregard of facts staring him in the face. William R. Hawkins wrote an article today noting,
The liberal hope was best described by the title of Tom Englehardt’s 1995 book The End of Victory Culture. In 1999, President Bill Clinton proclaimed: “Perhaps for the first time in history, the world's leading nations are not engaged in a struggle with each other for security or territory. The world clearly is coming together.” It is because the events of the last few years so clearly contradict this liberal vision of a harmonious world, that there is so much hatred of President George W. Bush.
Hawkins, ( his article is titled "The Ideology of Defeat"), asks whether liberal culture with its aversion to fighting and warfare, can produce the motivation and determination to resist the assaults of suicide bombers and insurgents. He asks, "Has liberalism already so weakened society's will to fight back that even leaders and soldiers committed to do so cannot succeed?"
He writes,
It is clear that the objective of liberal policy is not to be more effective, but to uphold liberal values. If this means losing a war, so be it. It is better to accept defeat than to adapt to the needs of an illiberal world.
. . . In contrast, Islamic fundamentalists harken back to the glory days when Moslem armies swept across the world from Spain to India, and Mohammed himself approved the razing of villages and the beheading of opponents. They inhabit {and enshrine) the kind of bellicose society that liberalism has done much to bleach out of America. The result is that despite having brave soldiers armed with high-tech weapons who win every pitched battle, American society teeters on the edge of military collapse from a lack of will to do what is needed, on a large enough scale for a long enough period of time, to defeat Islamic militants in any theater of current combat.
. . . Many Moslems have been recruited into extremism while living in the midst of liberal societies (like London), having found their surroundings decadent and corrupt. Thus liberalism’s much vaunted ideals of tolerance and passivity are seen by foes as a lack of honor and strength.
There is something "touchingly naive" about the liberal perspective on human nature and the behavior of nations. It would be entertaining to watch the drama unfold -- if only this were not a real world where such illusions can result in the slaughter of milions and the collapse of a civilization at the hands of barbarous bellicose enemies.