America’s Suffering From a Crisis of Confidence
In the current war with Islamism and other ideologies bent on destroying Western principles, we are facing a crisis of confidence.
Syria’s raging civil war has transfixed the West’s collective consciousness two summers in a row: last summer with ISIS’s unspeakable barbarity and in 2015 by unleashing a refugee crisis on Europe. Those searching for solutions would do well to take a comprehensive approach.
Yes, better military options are needed in the Middle East. But in the current struggle with Islamism and other ideologies bent on destroying Western principles, we are facing something much more acute: a crisis of confidence.
This crisis of confidence is as pervasive as it unnoticed. We have even come to see the Information Age—fueled by American technological innovation—as a subversive threat, because it helps recruitment, rather than as a facilitator of many of our cherished freedoms.
This is the considered view of a British visitor who came to Washington last week to warn America (and the entire West) not to take its eye off the ideological fight for values. That he was not too long ago in charge of the defense portfolio for British Prime Minister David Cameron is not the only reason to listen to Liam Fox. It’s also the strength of his argument that commands respect.
Speaking at The Heritage Foundation, Fox warned that the struggle against ISIS “is not simply a battle to be fought on the ground against a military force. This is an ideological battle. We need to understand the scale of the challenge we face.”
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