Rating: 
Summary: A Rare "Must Read for Liberal and Conservative Alike
Review:
Very few books cause me to question--even reverse--intellectual views that have been 52 years in the making. This book has done so. Although I have been uneasy for many years with America's loss of its warrior ethic and fit society, and the abdication by many Americans of their civic responsibility to understand foreign events and forces that threaten our way of life, this book for the first time in my somewhat extensive reading, has both crystallized the "fire alarm" nature of 9/11 in a unique manner, and caused me to hold the neo-conservative and unilateral militarists in somewhat greater regard. It even caused me to appreciate Zionism is a new light (while still despising corruption, lies, deception of allies, and inherent genocide--but still, a new look)--quite an accomplishment.
This is a difficult book to read--I recommend that it be read quickly, for flavor, rather than slowly, for trying to understand each sentence and each page could result in a loss of interest and quitting on the author before reaching the end. It's easier if you simply plug ahead and mark the high points--the book is full of gems of insight.
It is a very intelligent book, the *opposite* of the blind bible-thumping "there's only one book that matters" true believers that I am accustomed to hearing from, yet this book very elegantly complements the obsessive views of the bible-thumpers. This awesome book comes down to one question: what are you willing to die for? and one challenge: how many of you (us) are willing to die for anything at all?
The most important point that I drew out of this book was its legitimate and here-to-fore unarticulated criticism of intellectuals and liberals for having forgotten that their hard won liberties came at the cost of blood, and that utopian ideals are fantasies that distract one from the harsh truths of the real world. Others will focus on the author's more publicized point, that Al Qaeda is a ruthless enemy that hates us to the point of wanting to simply die while we die with it, and that is a useful point, but the two go together: we cannot be effective against our external enemy unless we also recognize our internal enemy, those mind-sets that prevent us from being effective in defending our values and our liberties.
There are three flaws or missing contexts in this book, and I mention them only to stress that while I hold this book in very high regard and am more accepting or tolerant of the neo-conservative viewpoint as a result, it is a partial view, nothing more. It does not address the corruption within our own society, where elected presidents, corporate CEOS, the churches, the New York Times, charities, and--today--the Boy Scouts--are all found to lack ethics and be frauds; it does not address the external diseconomies imposed by immoral capitalism; and it does not address the stark realities overseas that are going to wipe us out without any help from terrorists: the 59 plagues, the 18 genocides, the 32 failed states, the loss of potable water, etc.
In short, this author is absolutely world class on the fundamentals of recognizing that some people, you simply have to hunt down and kill. He does not address what I think of as "track two": we need to stabilize & reconstruct the rest of the world so as to minimize the number of people we have to hunt down and kill.
He makes a good and excellent case for acting unilaterally, and for ignoring--even being dismissive of--the fraud of "sovereignty" that is represented by the United Nations and all these little "piss-ant" countries that are comprised of an elite that loots the country, and masses of impoverished, illiterate, "peasants" that represent potential hoards of human locusts carrying disease, crime, and instability wherever they migrate to....
He does not, however, satisfy me in addressing the lack of good faith among leaders who correctly choose to defend the nation with unilateral militarism, but also choose to lie to the public and betray the public trust by concocting false claims and by manipulating secret intelligence to their own ends.
On balance I find this book to be extremely important--one that liberals as well as conservative must read. It stresses the role of family as an antidote to gangs (something Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore champions constantly, and the Chinese generally have understood for centuries). The author also criticizes modern education for presenting "finished" or ideal concepts, and not providing the students with the life experience to learn the hard way that life is about compromise, trade-offs, partial satisfaction, etcetera. He ends by celebrating creative destruction and the value of commitment, including blind faith commitment when crunch time comes and one has to be obedient to the leaders we have trusted with our survival.
I value what this author has done. I take from this work three goals for the future:
1) We must reconstitute our society as a fit society with a warrior ethic and an inclination to study the outside world, not simply retreat into drugs/alcohol and sedative soap operas;
2) We must, as a society, agree that ruthlessness and the will to fight to the death matters, when faced by enemies that have no thought of compromise and have demonstrated by suicide that they are more than willing to do so themselves; and
3) We must--this is the part the author does not cover (see my lists for books that do)--formulate a grand strategy, a sustainable grand strategy, for addressing the 20 global problems that J.F. Rischard has identified, so as to prevent those problems from spawning more terrorists and sending our way more plagues, more illegal immigrants, more criminals.
This book is easily one of 25 books that I would recommend to every American and to most foreigners.
Rating: 
Summary: Historical revisionism is not cool
Review: A quote: "Forgetfulness occurs when those who have been long inured to civilized order can no longer remember a time in which they had to wonder whether their crops would grow to maturity without being stolen or their children sold into slavery by a victorious foe....They forget that in time of danger, in the face of the enemy, they must trust and confide in each other, or perish."When things like this are said, it's funny because we're being led to believe there is an immediate danger out there...and it's Liberals. Well in Nazi Germany it was Jews who were the danger. Of this quote, the most important point is lost, that, sure we know things were and still are like this in some places, but in America we DON'T live like this. Times change, this fact seems to be lost on people. The book leads us to believe there is an "Enemy" out there. Not Jews this time, now it's Liberals. Also the history: Historical revisionism at it's finest. Right-wing authors have made a high art out of this tactic of revising history to fit their needs. The Greeks were not "republicans". The did not live in "countries". They lived in city states. He claims Sparta was successful because they beat the Athenians. OK. The Spartans were the conservatives. What is left of them? What happened to them as soon as new tactics and technologies came on the scene? What value is there living your whole life as a servant to the state (see NAZIISM)? What art, or anything of lasting endurance, came out of Sparta? They were conservative all right, but their lack of willingness to change and adapt to the new political and military situations destroyed them almost immediately after their victory at Athens. New improvements in military strategy were un-"PC", liberal, and "Utopian". OK, you believe that Sparta, and what happened to you? You died. Historical revisionism is not cool: read 1984 by George Orwell before reading this. The Greeks did not live in the 'burbs and work for corporations. Some things ARE different in different times. This book takes historical situations and pretends the Ancient world was like "Ozzie and Harriet". And no the Greeks did not have cell phones or mopeds.
Rating:
Summary: A Reality Check on Our Fantasy Ideologies
Review: After 9/11 most of us sought out answers to who the perpetrators of this mass murder were, what was their motivation, and what was the bigger picture of what this meant. The conspiracy theorists, both from the political Right and the Left, were the first to offer answers. Most of these answers didn't square with the facts as we slowly learned them. Official sources of information about 9/11 were intentionally vague and focused on some notion of evil terror masters. The reason for the reticence of government to disclose what they knew, when they knew it, and who knew it, only much later became apparent - people inside and outside of the government of our purported ally Saudi Arabia were involved in subsidizing and supporting the terrorists. The U.S. government could not come right out and disclose what it knew for fear of a public outcry for retaliation against the Saudi state, possibly resulting in a worldwide economic depression if the price of oil became destabilized. Many of us in the public searched in vain on the net for reliable sources of information about the events surrounding 9/11, until the lone, clear thinking voice of Lee Harris appeared first with an article in the Spring 2002 issue of Policy Review entitled Al Queda's Fantasy Ideology. Later this article, and its sequel, Our World Historical Gamble appeared at TechCentralStation.com.
One of the reasons for Lee Harris's ability to clearly discern the bigger picture is his transcendence of political ideology. If you want to find a book that confirms your political ideology or conspiratorial world view, or as Harris would call it your Fantasy Ideology, about 9/11 and the subsequent invasion of Iraq, I suggest you not read this book. However, if you want to clearly understand the war with Iraq, terrorism, and the larger implications involved from a deep thinker who can write plainly, then I would suggest this book. Harris explains how tolerance and reason are dead end solutions to terrorism. We have often heard the popular phrase about 9/11 "Never Forget." Harris takes the concept of forgetfulness to a different level of understanding about how our institutions have forgotten how civilization was first created.
The dust jacket on the book explains that Harris graduated with honors in philosophy from Emery University, studied at divinity school, wrote mystery novels for years, and ended up running an auto glass tinting business. All of this prepared him to be the early lone voice of clarity about 9/11 and the unfolding drama in world events. Lee Harris is the man for our times. And Civilization and Its Enemies is one of the few readable but in-depth analyses of the Post 9/11 world that avoids the populism of most books.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant, but with some flaws
Review: Although I consider myself a "liberal", this presumably "conservative" intellectual blew me away with the depth of his arguments and his amazing eloquence. Be on your guard liberal reader, or you might get convinced. The problem I found with the book, is that the enemy's "fantasy ideology" may draw its appeal to huge masses of people, not because of the fantasy itself, i.e. the promised utopia, but from the flaws of your own civilization. This aspect is carefully avoided in the book. Unless you can change (the civilization), through the Hegelian thesis-antithesis-synthesis process, you are doomed to stumble. I see the role of every "fantasy ideology" as a potential agent of positive change, as long as the civilization is willing to examine the enemy's criticism, with an open mind. Perhaps they are right in some points, and the civilization does need to change. Russian masses, under the czar were in so dire a condition, that bolshevik ideology could easily take root, did, and led to the revolution. The russian government could do nothing to preserve its "civilization", so it lost to the "enemy". Was their particular flavor of civilization worth preserving in the first place in the form it had? Probably not. Yes, the bolshevik ideology set back the russian people seventy years, indeed it was a "fantasy ideology" which won outright. But the "civilization" it replaced hardly merited the label.
In western europe, the influence of the same ideology led to a thesis-antithesis-synthesis cycle which created the european welfare state and averted more drastic changes. What the writer completely omits is the fact that every civilization needs to indulge in self-doubt and self-criticism and critically examine the "enemy" point of view, even if it may reject it outright, if wants self preservation. Otherwise it is doomed to become arrogant, and then decline and fall is not far away,.
Rating:
Summary: Absorb the Wisdom of America's Cassandra
Review: Anyone who was distraught and baffled by 9-11 and the Madrid bombings will find in this superb book the answer to the questions: "Why do Islamic terrorists hate the West, especially the USA, and what do they hope to gain by continuing to perpetrate their brutal acts?" The answers, outlined by Mr. Harris in this flawlessly reasoned book, are not likely to be popular with liberal intellectuals or a host of other hopelessly naive politicians the world over who are unwilling to truly digest the concept of ruthlessness, its place in history, and its use today by the enemies of civilization. Are you rusty on your ancient history and Greek philosophers? What red-blooded American isn't? Take advantage of Mr. Harris' staggering knowledge of history and philosophy demonstrated in this book, and your view of today's sometimes frightening world may be changed forever. His thorough attempt to prove his thesis by citing examples from history and constructing a bulletproof argument are a tiny bit tedious in some parts, but overall this book is mind-blowing. Mr. Harris articulates very well the vague but urgently truthful thoughts that many Americans, including myself, have been kicking around silently since 9/11 but have been reluctant to discuss unless in the company of like-minded people. Mr. Harris' book does not offer any easy solutions or paint a pretty picture of the world in the future. However, the experience of reading this book is extremely cathartic for those like myself who are always comforted by the knowing the truth, no matter how unpleasant. There is always serenity in true knowledge.
Rating:
Summary: Absorb the Wisdom of America's Cassandra
Review: Anyone who was distraught and baffled by 9-11 and the Madrid bombings will find in this superb book the answer to the questions: "Why do Islamic terrorists hate the West, especially the USA, and what do they hope to gain by continuing to perpetrate their brutal acts?" The answers, outlined by Mr. Harris in this flawlessly reasoned book, are not likely to be popular with liberal intellectuals or a host of other hopelessly naive politicians the world over who are unwilling to truly digest the concept of ruthlessness, its place in history, and its use today by the enemies of civilization. Are you rusty on your ancient history and Greek philosophers? What red-blooded American isn't? Take advantage of Mr. Harris' staggering knowledge of history and philosophy demonstrated in this book, and your view of today's sometimes frightening world may be changed forever. His thorough attempt to prove his thesis by citing examples from history and constructing a bulletproof argument are a tiny bit tedious in some parts, but overall this book is mind-blowing. Mr. Harris articulates very well the vague but urgently truthful thoughts that many Americans, including myself, have been kicking around silently since 9/11 but have been reluctant to discuss unless in the company of like-minded people. Mr. Harris' book does not offer any easy solutions or paint a pretty picture of the world in the future. However, the experience of reading this book is extremely cathartic for those like myself who are always comforted by the knowing the truth, no matter how unpleasant. There is always serenity in true knowledge.
Rating: 
Summary: A bit disappointing.....
Review: Begins with a uniquely insightful analysis
of the current situation. Then spends
much of the book delving into Hegel and
ancient philosophers, with some connection
to the modern situation. But the end fails
to "close". Perhaps Harris is leaving the
solution to the reader in true academic
style, but I would have preferred to hear
what he thinks we should *do* to preserve
civilization against this unique enemy.
Rating:
Summary: AN IMPORTANT BOOK FOR ALL TO READ
Review: Civilization and Its Enemies is amongst the most important books written since the terrorist attacks. It is a wake up call to an entire civilization, a declaration that our traditional view of the world needs to be updated for a new dangerous age and an old enemy. It's doubtless that some will quibble with several of Harris' conclusions -- notably that the United States is the only force powerful enough to push back the enemy -- but the stunning clarity of his argument is all but beyond debate. This is a book that needs to be read by both sides of the political divide if the West is to understand who is really fighting and why nothing less than total victory can suffice.
Although the American-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq would suggest otherwise, Harris argues that it is we in the West who are often intellectually unable to grasp the concept of "enemy" and why they seek our destruction. Led by our utopian intellectuals, we fail to realize that we have enemies who see the world differently than we do, and in that world we are nothing more than their enemies, "not for our faults any more than for virtues."
The reason why we have become their enemies is due to what Harris refers to as "fantasy ideology." Like Benito Mussolini's Italian fascism and Adolph Hitler's National Socialism before it, radical Islam has created an ideology that is disconnected from reality. It is a style of ideology that is deliberate make-believe, one that does not explain the world the way it really is but rather how it wishes the world would be.
What we have forgotten is that the enemy is ruthless and our civil ways are no defense. The only way to defend yourself against a ruthless enemy is to become ruthless yourself. As Harris points out, if someone is willing to die to kill you then you must be willing to die to defend yourself. Failing to do so means that your civilization is vanquished. The trick is to unleash that ruthlessness without becoming permanently ruthless yourself and destroying what makes civilization worth fighting for.
A Truly eye-opening book!
Rating:
Summary: The danger of Forgetfulness
Review: CIVILIZATION AND ITS ENEMIES: THE NEXT STAGE OF HISTORY The over-whelming sentiment of Lee Harris's timely Civilization And Its Enemies The Next Stage of History is pretty much summed up in the Preface when he asserts: "The subject of this book is forgetfulness." Harris, who could be described as a "philosopher's philosopher," convincingly places 9/11 into perspective with carefully crafted arguments reminding the reader that we have learned little from the past. Concepts such as who the enemy is and why it is imperative to react ruthlessly are extensively examined in the light of past historical events as the French Revolution, World War 1 and the teachings of the great political philosophers. No doubt, the book is a riveting attack on many naive liberal ideals that refuse to believe that the enemy is motivated by a fantasy ideology bent on destroying the very foundations of Western democratic principles and ideology no matter what it takes. Harris argues that it is a grave mistake to adopt out-dated rationalizations espoused by many intellectuals that the enemy can be a viable negotiator, notwithstanding that they may be misguided, misunderstood or politically immature-that in the end things can be worked out.
This naïve and complacent view of the world as it should be and not as it is a gross misunderstanding of the collision we are presently facing. Unless, as the author points out, we are prepared to look seriously at the historical stakes in America's world-historical gamble, we will completely misunderstand the enemy. To explain the notion of "world-historical gamble," Harris relies on the writings of the German philosopher, Hegel, who believed that that such gambles arise from situations of historical impasse or deadlock for the human race. In such instances, it is vital that mankind doesn't ignore these situations and bury its head in the sand, as if they don't exist. This would be far more dangerous than taking the "world-historical gamble." Many other concepts examined within the context of the present day crisis are origins and importance of leadership, team spirit, tolerance, the origin of the enemy, the rare virtues of the West, ruthlessness and Hegel's origin of civilization. Harris's gets top marks for his clear and precise writing that contains a great deal of substance that avoids generalizations that are often the shortcomings of books of a similar nature. You get a sense that Harris knows what he is talking about without talking down to his audience. The above review was contributed by Norm Goldman editor of Bookpleasures.com
Rating:
Summary: Pulling Punches
Review: For those who believe it imperative to deal with the threat that became apparent after 9/11, this book is worthwhile. Mr. Harris makes some telling points, namely ÒIt is the enemy who defines us as his enemyÉwe are the enemy of those who murdered us on 9/11Éif you are the enemy, then you have an enemy. When you have it, this fact must change everything about the way you see the worldÉto insist on maintaining utopian values when your society is facing an enemy who wishes only to annihilate you is to invite annihilation.Ó
Yet he pulls his punches when he says we have become forgetful because the threats against civilization have become Òtoo distantÓ. (It is hard for some to forget the horrors of fascism and communism.) Moreover, when discussing how fantasy permeates the enemyÕs world view, he deemphasizes the context within which it arises, denying that there is Òsome inherent flaw in Islam, either as a culture or a religion, or in ArabsÓ. Consequently, he cannot counter the threat by providing disincentives to the Muslim and Arab movements by making them pay a price for their attacks.
Mr. Harris writes that Òthe various things that must be done to protect societyÉare at odds with those values that express the highest that civilized life has to offerÑtolerance, individual liberty, government by consensusÓ as though our response requires a rejection of civilization. Yet perhaps the highest value of civilization is justice, which is the very thing needed for our protection. Mr. Harris notes that the Arabs did not develop their economic resources, nor create their own wealth, but have benefited from the West. Consequently, their advantages appear to stem from magic, rather than from dealing with reality. Surely they have gained from our trusting negotiations and agreements, while benefiting from Western protectionism. Yet most of their advantage has derived from exploiting the flaws in Western beliefs, which they have mastered with great clarity. Here, it is we who have been blind to political and economic realities. Thus whereas Mr. Harris has properly addressed the material and military realm, he has overlooked the primary source of enemy power, which is political and ideological.
I concur with his view that ÒThe civilization that the US is now called on to defend is not AmericaÕs or even the WestÕsÓ but civilization itself. I further agree with his requirement to review the positions of our utopian intelligentsia. However, it is unfortunate that Mr. Harris has not gotten to the source of the bloc to destroy us.
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