Sunday's Best

Of course the Mid East still reigns supreme in op-ed world. NY Times thinks that we should go along with France and soften up on Hezbollah and focus solely on Syrian withdrawal. Then we need to get France to help us go after Hezbollah. Sounds great except that while the EU just labeled the Hezbollah as a terrorist group individual members have yet to do the same.

Thomas Friedman is his normal brilliant self noting that just because autocrats fall down it does not mean that democracies will spring up. The Mid East also needs civil society and a middle class. Mona Eltahawy confesses in the Washington Post that Iraq War was the "equivalent of a bucket of freezing water thrown in the face of an Arab world in deep slumber." She goes on:

There is away to talk about the effect of the Iraq war on the rest of the Arab world
without actually supporting that war. This time last year and the year before, I marched in demonstrations in New York against the war on Iraq, which I did not believe was launched in the name of democracy and freedom. But we would be lying to ourselves if we didn't acknowledge that the U.S. occupation of Iraq is a major catalyst for what has been happening lately, be it in Egypt, Lebanon or Saudi Arabia.

She still goes on the rip Bush for not doing enough for Egypt and Saudi Arabia and credits civil society for being another catalyst in the Mid East. She's right on the latter but a bit harsh on the former. Of course the Bushies in defending American interests will be more tolerant of Saudi and Egyptian indiscretions, but there are nudging slightly nonetheless. After all Egypt's slight opening came on the heels of a cancelled trip by Condi Rice protesting the detention of Ayman Nour. Mr. Nour was released yesterday.

Marcela Sanchez applauds Bolivian President Carlos Mesa's reach out to coca producing leader Evo Morales. Even though it is not an opinion column the LA Times has a piece on the growing frustration of the white minority in Bolivia with the indigenous population. They seem to prefer a firm hand a la Alvaro Uribe to an outstretched one.

One last bit in the LA Times Arthur Herman says that a multipolar world is not the way to go. He feels that that having only one superpower makes the world safer. He points to Pax Britannica as his shining example.

The fact is, a unipolar world is a safer world and has been historically. For more than 100 years, from the defeat of Napoleon to the start of World War I, Britain was the world's lone superpower. Its Royal Navy enabled it to do the heavy lifting across the globe that no one else could or would, just as the U.S. military does today. Despite an inevitable crisis or two, the world enjoyed a century of unprecedented peace, prosperity and stability. Now, with so many worried about the U.S. dominating the world, it's worth passing along the lessons Britain learned in its years as lone superpower.

The lessons are - be prepared to make enemies, be prepared for the long haul, your best ambassador is your military and watch your back. Aceh seems to prove his penultimate point. By the way Herman's book To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World is a great read.