* new spanish pm wants iraq pull-out

great britain's head of school with an amusing reaction:

"No one should get the idea that somehow, if you were a country that was opposed to military action in Iraq, you are less of a target of al-Qaida and these terrible Islamic fanatics."

and then (garbled application of gwb's "either with us or against us"):

"Unless you are 100% with the terrorists, you are seen to be 100% against them."


* brawling latinos - huntington's newest threat, stirring up questionable anti-immigration tones, and the cultural xenophobia he's so famous for, by packing it into another baseless theory with a questionable interest at its center.

outrageously:

"The spread of Spanish, he argues with an impressive command of the conditional clause, "could, in due course, have significant consequences in politics and government - those aspiring to political office might have to be fluent in both languages ... government documents and forms could routinely be published in both languages ... the use of both languages could become acceptable in congressional hearings ... [and] English speakers lacking fluency in Spanish are likely to be and feel at a disadvantage in the competition for jobs."

He further stirs up the brew with nods to the scale of Hispanic immigration, noting that Hispanics passed African-Americans as the largest minority in the last US census.

It all spells, for Huntington, the end of civilisation. Indeed, the Founding Fathers might as well not have bothered. Huntington goes so far as to imagine what might have happened if the conquerors of America, instead of being white Anglo-Protestants had been French, Spanish or Portuguese Catholics. "It would not be the United States; it would be Quebec, Mexico or Brazil," he concludes."

what a nonce. you can read his article at foreign policy.


* since i was already clicking through the policy mags, i came across another kagan offering - "america's crisis of legitimacy". habermasian term ("legitimation crisis")! seems like an accurate description if you ask me. the normative end of things however...

"Summary: Europeans accuse the United States of acting like a bully: aggressive, self-interested, and disrespectful of rules. That charge is hypocritical. Still, it must be taken seriously, for as a liberal democracy with a global vision, the United States needs the approval of other nations that share its ideals. The American project is in Europe's interest, too--whether the Europeans understand that or not."