Napoleon in the Middle East
A few pages into “Napoleon: A Life,” historian Andrew Roberts notes that the great general regarded himself as “of the race that founds empires.”
How odd that sounds to modern ears. Of course, in the past, people viewed the world differently. Most of us get that. In the present, not everyone sees the world the same way, but many of us don’t get that.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry responds to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s seizure of Ukrainian territory by exclaiming, “You just don’t in the 21st century behave in 19th-century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped up pretext.
Within the foreign policy establishment it is widely assumed that those who send suicide bombers to kill us must harbor “legitimate grievances,” and that they, like us, would prefer peace to war, and are eager, as we are, to resolve conflicts diplomatically, with both sides accepting compromises.
These are dangerous illusions. Throughout most of history, war has been the norm, peace the exception. Pursuing victory and conquest, founding empires — these were seen as noble pursuits.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is self-evidently among those who hold such views today. He has declared himself caliph of the Islamic State: spiritual, political and military ruler of the world’s Muslims, heir to Muhammad, who founded the first Islamic empire.
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