13 February 2002

Distorted vision I'm often sympathetic with Tom Friedman's column in The New York Times (although I thought his book, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, was a simplistic paean to the Washington consensus). But today Tom seems to have been swept up into a reality distortion field. He sees Bush's rhetoric about the "axis of evil" as serving as a useful deterrent to America's enemies. "There is a lot about the Bush team's foreign policy I don't like, but their willingness to restore our deterrence, and to be as crazy as some of our enemies, is one thing they have right." I thought part of the point of being a shining city on the hill is to be an exemplar. Tom is advocating a modern version of MAD -- mutually assured destruction -- only this time there's nothing mutual about it. It may, emphasis on the may, engender fear of what the US might do (which Tom thinks is a good idea), but it is also likely to diminish respect.   3:50:53 PM

The alternatives Naomi Klein's report from the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre shows to me some of the distasteful aspects of the so-called antiglobalisation movement (I think it should more accurately be termed anti-capitalist). What is served by her denigration of Kofi Annan, a man who has dedicated his life to achieving what Klein and her cohorts shout about? Annan is struggling with immense determination and dignity within the imperfect confines of the UN to deliver for the world's poor. 12:34:10 PM

Encore le defi Americain "For half a century, western Europe did a wonderful job of dealing with what Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, the French author, called le defi Americain. But the challenge has been renewed. Can Europe respond?" Martin Wolf analyses the US productivity surge, and wonders whether it marks a historic shift. I'll defer to his analysis, but I think he misses (or chooses to disregard) an important point. A large number of Europeans, I'd reckon a majority, would choose their societies in preference to the US even at the cost of living standards. This may well alter over time, particularly if disparities widen. And I don't think everything about the European attitude is admirable: the stance is taken at the cost of accepting that too many fellow citizens are unemployed (even if they are cushioned by comparatively generous social safety nets). On the other hand, no European country incarcerates 0.7% of its population.   11:37:36 AM

Privacy and the press "If you are going to voluntarily enter Hannibal Lecter's cage, then eventually you are going to get nibbled round the back of the neck." Piers Morgan, editor of The Mirror, explains why celebrities who use the media when it suits them shouldn't complain when they get bitten. 11:18:10 AM

© Copyright 2002 Lance Knobel.