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"Forgetfulness occurs when those who
have been long accustomed to civilized order can no longer
remember a time in which they had to wonder whether their
crops would grow to maturity without being stolen or their
children sold into slavery by a victorious foe.... They
forget that in time of danger, in the face of the enemy,
they must trust and confide in each other, or perish....
They forget, in short, that there has ever been a category
of human experience called the enemy.
"That, before 9/11, was what had happened
to us. The very concept of the enemy had been banished from
our moral and political vocabulary. An enemy was just a
friend we hadn't done enough for yet. Or perhaps there had
been a misunderstanding, or an oversight on our part --
something that we could correct....
"Our first task is therefore to try
to grasp what the concept of the enemy really means. The
enemy is someone who is willing to die in order to kill
you. And while it is true that the enemy always hates us
for a reason, it is his reason, and not ours."
So begins Civilization and Its Enemies,
an extraordinary tour de force by America's "reigning
philosopher of 9/11," Lee Harris. What Francis Fukuyama
did for the end of the Cold War, Lee Harris has now done
for the next great conflict: the war between the civilized
world and the international terrorists who wish to destroy
it. Each major turning point in our history has produced
one great thinker who has been able to step back from petty
disagreements and see the bigger picture -- and Lee Harris
has emerged as that man for our time. He is the one who
has helped make sense of the terrorists' fantasies and who
forces us most strongly to confront the fact that our enemy
-- for the first time in centuries -- refuses to play by
any of our rules, or to think in any of our categories.
We are all naturally reluctant to face a
true enemy. Most of us cannot give up the myth that tolerance
is the greatest of virtues and that we can somehow convert
the enemy to our beliefs. Yet, as Harris's brilliant tour
through the stages of civilization demonstrates, from Sparta
to the French Revolution to the present, civilization depends
upon brute force, properly wielded by a sovereign. Today,
only America can play the role of sovereign on the world
stage, by the use of force when necessary.
Lee Harris's articles have been hailed by
thinkers from across the spectrum. His message is an enduring
one that will change the way readers think -- about the
war with Iraq, about terrorism, and about our future.
Lee Harris entered Emory University at
age fourteen and graduated summa cum laude. After years
spent pursuing diverse interests, including a stint at divinity
school, several years writing mystery novels, and a career
as a glazier, he began writing philosophical articles that
captured the imagination of readers all over the world.
The author of three of the most controversial and widely
shared pieces in the history of Policy Review, Harris
has emerged as one of the most talked-about writers of recent
times. He lives in Stone Mountain, Georgia.
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