Europe's Angry Muslims

Foreign Affairs ^ | July/Aug 2005 | Robert S. Leiken

[Inkie]

You forgot the !!! :-)

[Porterville]

"career diplomats" is that a oxymoron? Those di*kweeds in the embassy are anything but diplomatic.... but they are there forever betraying their fellow countrymen.

[dervish]

First this is a great post as are all your posts on this thread. You deal in facts.

"The US is an immigrant nation. The countries of Europe are not. I am not showing off mind you, but I have lived in Greece, Finland, Germany, Poland, and Italy. Europeans are not as accepting of immigrants as we are and some make citizenship very difficult for newcomers. They have stratified societies making it difficult for people to move from one class to another. I seriously doubt if a foreigner could ever rise to the level of a Kissinger, Brzezinski, or Schwarzenegger in their governments."

This is the real irony of the European dilemma. They talk the multicultural game, shun US nationalism and religious conviction, but they are much more xenophobic and concerned with racial and religious origins themselves. They fear nationalism because for them it does not exist outside of racial designations. They don't understand what it means in its true sense as applied in the US.

I agree. "The US is the most tolerant nation on earth."

[kabar]

Thanks for the kind remarks. There is a reason why the relatively small land area of Europe contains so many countries and principalities. Cultural identity is extremely important, which is why immigrants and outsiders find it difficult to assimilate. They just aren't accepted. In the years ahead, I foresee increased political divisions on cultural issues. Le Penn was the canary in the coal mine.