Carter on the Next War

Carter, of all people, should know that conflict has always been caused by “racial, ethnic, religious, nationalistic and self-determination” problems. This is nothing new or a phenomenon unique to the “post-Cold War.” The only thing that is new is that the so-called First World has finally awakened to these issues. It is about time. The blindness Carter and many like him display in proclaiming the historic uniqueness of the present is the same sort of blindness Americans have displayed throughout the Cold War in not being able to look beyond abstract, ideological causes of conflict.

JOSHUA MARSTON

Beverly Hills