Posted 4:43 PM by Blah blah

Fareed Zakaria: Why Do They Hate Us? (Politics, Thoughtful, Profile)

More detailed info on Fareed and his bio: Man of the World (New York).

Please listen to this gripping, insightful, and eloquent speech at the World Affairs Council by Fareed Zakaria, "Why Do They Hate Us?" It's the best explanation I've ever heard of why young men in the Arab world are: 1) Angry and hopeless enough to kill themselves, and 2) Why they use that anger against the West.

Hear his speech (Click on 04/23/02).

As a detailed companion to his explanation, watch this excellent speech by Thomas Friedman at Yale's Center for the Study of Globalization: Reflections on the Post-9/11 Middle East (Jan. 30, 2003). Friedman travelled around the world with a camera crew from the Discovery Channel, making the documentary "Searching for the Roots of 9/11." Friedman digs into the backgrounds of the 9/11 hijackers and notices something very interesting---they ALL became radical, not at home in countries like Saudi Arabia, but in Europe! His view is colorful and, unlike Zakaria's, filled with anecdotes from his travels and conversations as a reporter. To understand the fuller picture of "why they hate us," we must listen to Friedman too.

Read Zakaria's Newsweek article on the same topic. (Read his article archive. He's the guy who wrote "The Arrogant Empire," the article I had prominently linked up top.)

Who is Fareed Zakaria? A wunderkind. From his bio: he's editor of Newsweek International. Describing him as "the most influential foreign policy adviser of his generation," Esquire named him "one of the 21 most important people of the 21st Century." Zakaria was born in India, has a B.A. from Yale (in history) and a Ph.D. from Harvard (in international relations). In 1992, at the age of 28, Zakaria became managing editor of Foreign Affairs, the leading journal of international politics and economics—a position he held through 2000. He recently joined the ABC television show ‘This Week’, where he offers political analysis and serves as a regular member of the roundtable. He's also the author of THE FUTURE OF FREEDOM: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad, a hot book that argues that democracy does NOT automatically lead countries to adopt liberal values, that "unregulated democracy undermines liberty and the rule of law."

Young (below 40), Indian, good-looking, brilliant, great on TV, and well-respected by government officials like Condoleezza Rice, Zakaria is HOT HOT HOT. He's been called an "intellectual pinup" and an international affairs "rock star." Some high government office is probably in his future. His writing and speaking are clear, thoughtful, nuanced, and persuasive, backed by his deep understanding of history.

When I have a chance, I'll try to post an entire transcript of his speech, since I think it's very important for us. In the meantime, please listen to the webcast.