by Mark Harvey

Every civilization sees itself as the center of the world and writes its history as the central drama of human history. ―Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

Watching Israel and Iran lob bombs at each other these last few weeks makes me tired. Just when the world seemed completely destabilized and clinically looney, two countries who both trace their religions back to Abraham or Ibrahim decide to make things worse. I know you’re supposed to reach for the most recent issue of Foreign Affairs or parse treaties on nuclear non-proliferation to make sense of this missile orgy, but this latest war might make you reach for your earplugs and blindfold instead.

It’s easy to come up with reasons why one of these fanatical leaders–Ali Kamenei or Benjamin Netanyahu— is right and the other is wrong, back it up with obscure historical data and tables of fissionable materials, but there might be a simpler explanation: a good portion of mankind lives in the reptilian and limbic parts of the human brain, is soaked in the desire for revenge, and is completely lacking in reason and forbearance.

In the few days since I began writing this, the United States has cast our lot into the mess with bombing sorties over Iran as well. This is all red meat for the pundits of every stripe. Along with the hypersonic missiles flying back and forth over the Zagros Mountains and the Syrian Desert, you can bet there will be a barrage of hyperbolic opinion pieces either extolling or condemning the war.

My college degree was in International Studies and I used to try to find some real logic in foreign affairs. There were a few writers and theorists like the late George Kennan and Samuel Huntington who actually did a pretty good job of breaking down international affairs into some sort of mechanics or predictable psychology. Huntington believed that the modern conflicts were determined by the clash of cultures and religions, not economics. Read more »