John Iduh Blog

  From the Ransford School of Political Science , Online The defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 and the collapse of the Soviet Empire in 1991 enticed scores of Western commentators to relegate ‘‘ideology’’ to the dustbin of history. Proclaiming a radically new era in human history, they argued that all political belief systems had converged in a single vision: liberal capitalism .  This dream of a universal set of political ideas ruling the world came crashing down with the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Indeed, the very rationale for the ensuing ‘‘Global War on Terror’’ was built on the notion of ideological diversity and incompatibility. Let us consider, for example, President George W. Bush’s 2007 televised address to the nation in which he unveiled his administration’s new ‘‘surge’’ strategy in Iraq by invoking the specter of an expanding ‘‘radical Islamic empire’’ ready to ‘‘launch new attacks on the United States at home and abro...