Maybe the term American Leadership should have been left out of the opening paragraph for it sounds too much like the American Way, if the illegal occupation of Iraq means part of it, coupled with the Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice's tendency to jump into global controversies ahead of the United Nations, sounds more like the old British colonialist 19th century imperialist order than an attempt at true global democracy?

The author writes:
".... rise of new fundamentalisms, whether they revolve around tribalism in parts of Africa, theology in the Middle East, politics in the Balkans, or zealotry somewhere else....".

There is no hint or acknowledgement re the possibility that we in the dreadfully sane "West" have in one way or another, through our centuries long imperialistic mis-adventure, been a causative player in all of this chaos and cultural dis-integration.

And are still doing so---perhaps even more so.

Or that the USA is currently "ruled" by essentially psychotic fundamentalist ideological and theological zealots.

Of course the West has also established mechanisms and systems which can (potentially) enable and foster the emergence of some kind of collective sanity.

But even that WILL require profound changes in our attitudes and actions too.

Ho Hum

" >> Or that the USA is currently "ruled" by essentially psychotic fundamentalist ideological and theological zealots."

Sounds like you weren't wearing your metal colander on your head when the aliens teleported your brain away. Should have been more careful.

But really. If Bush is psychotic what does that make Ahmedinejhad who visits an imaginary man hiding in a well. Or Kim Jong Il's with his cult of personality?

If Bush is a theological zealot, what words due you have left to describe the Wahabists who dominate Saudi or the Deobandis of the Taliban? Or the Pan Islamists of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood?

Its typical of the soft left to use inflamatory language as part of their propoganda. But to go so far over the top is indicative of the complete and acute loss of perspective that the haters of the US have contracted. Unfortunately it affects even the seemingly sane and educated left.

What was the point of this article? Other than Russell getting it all off his chest, that is?

I stand by my phrase re the psychotic crazies in Washington.
Such psychotic crazies, wherever they are geographically and culturally, and their fundamentalist "certainities" have ALL helped to create the situation described in this reference.

1. http://www.ispeace723.org/realityhumanity2.html

In recent essays the author has pointed that the current world crisis has been created by old time (deeply) psychotic "religionists" and benighted scientific materialists and that if the current momentum(s) continue it is bye-bye to Earthkind.

Imagine that. An entire article on the challenges of the future and not a word on oil, which reached a new record high price yesterday. No acknowledgement that the era of cheap and abundant energy looks to be drawing to a close. Russell Trood can't be much of a prognosticator if he hasn't factored that one in.

Oh dear Paul L., perhaps you might read the following article, and then tell us how you'd describe the ideological mindsets described therein. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/magazine/17BUSH.html?ex=1255665600&en=890a96189e162076&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland

My personal favorite is the un-named aide who criticised the reporter for being (no doubt you've read this before) '''in what we call the reality-based community,'' which he defined as people who ''believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ''That's not the way the world really works anymore,'' he continued. ''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.'''

Can't say I'm particularly fond of the lunatics in charge of Hamas et al. But Australia's most important strategic alliance is with the USA, not the Muslim Brotherhood...