I read the Newsweek column you wrote about, Mr. Ward, and it seems to me that getting defensive is not the approach we should be taking. America is facing a real dilemma right now, and that is global opinion. We are emerging from a time in our history when we lived blissfully isolated from the rest of the world, separated by two massive oceans, but with the rise of the Internet, satellites, globalization, etc., the global community is beginning to take shape. The notion of a “superpower” is becoming obsolete. A generation or two from now, children born in America will identify themselves more with the world community than with the American community. The more we fight to preserve our “lone superpower” status by parading our massive military might, and flaunting and dismissing as ludicrous the will of the rest of the world, the more hostile, violent, and anti-American a world we will be bringing our children into.
Scott Monk
Class of 2005