Blind Ambition Quotes
Incredibly, most of the administration’s appointees to handle the occupation after the Iraq War invasion were chosen for their ideological conformity to George W. Bush and the neoconservatives rather than their experience at anything much less governance or Arab culture. Almost none spoke Arabic, almost none had ever studied the Arab World, much less traveled in the Middle East. Strikingly, almost none even prepared themselves by studying the history, sociology or economics of the region, and few knew anything about Islamic culture.
Note that Herder regarded foreign impressions and learning as not only desirable but important. Most extreme nationalists are xenophobic and fear any knowledge, law, ideas or understandings of other nations and cultures. Even in the United States, there are a few Americans who are terribly distressed whenever one of the participants in a legal case cites an opinion or study done in another country.
