Music and the Rise and Decline of Western Civilization
This text overlaps with a few of my earlier essays like Why Muslims Like Hitler, but Not Mozart. I have had some interesting discussions with Ohmyrus, the essayist who runs the Democracy Reform blog. He is a Chinese man who appreciates aspects of Western civilization that many Westerners have forgotten or rejected. He is not unique in this regard. One of the best books about European culture is Defending the West by the former Muslim Ibn Warraq, who was born in the Indian subcontinent. As a native European it is strange to notice how some (non-Muslim) Asians apparently appreciate my civilization more than intellectuals in my own country do. The Iranian-born ex-Muslim Ali Sina denounces Western Multiculturalism in his book Understanding Muhammad, which I have reviewed online:
“If any culture needs to be preserved, it is the Western, Helleno-Christian culture. It is this culture that is facing extinction….We owe our freedom and modern civilization to Western culture. It is this culture that is now under attack and needs protection.”
Europeans Ambivalent about Obama’s Retreat on Missile Defense
Indeed, a consistent theme running through European commentary has been bafflement that Obama would abandon the missile defense system without receiving anything from Russia in return. A number of commentators have raised the issue of Obama’s lack of experience in statecraft. In Britain, for example, the Daily Telegraph published an editorial titled: “Barack Obama is Gambling with Europe’s Security.” Another article is titled: “President Barack Obama is beginning to look out of his depth.” It says: “His credibility is seeping away, and it will require concrete achievements rather than more soaring oratory to recover it.”
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