US (United States) v. SU (Soviet Union) & Islam(ism) in Between?

Submitted by Robert (United States), Oct 4, 2022 at 22:15

Dear Dr. Daniel Pipes,

You wrote this excellent article so long ago ago (1986) and you have not updated it since then.

There are interesting things that happened since that were not anticipated - but who can predict history?

1. I wonder if is is a mere accident that the mirror image of the "US" is "SR." (1917+ or so name).

2. The Communist US(SR) has morphed dialectically into the (Russian Orthodox Christian) Russian Federation. As Putin sees it, it is a Legalistic Dictatorship. I might point out here that so was Germany under National Socialism (without mentioning the acronym for it explicitly here for obvious cancel-culture reasons). But it would be reasonable to ask about this ideological fusion (in name only) of Nationalism and Socialism. Russia is certainly extremely nationalist under Putin. And with a tradition of communism how can it be without Socialism? Ironically, Putin has the audacity to claim that it's "special military action" in "Russian" Ukraine is to weed out the Neo-Nazis.

3. Who would have anticipated in 1986 how the Sunni-Shia split in Western Asia and North Africa would play out. You did not give this Muslim rivalry much weight at the time.

4. Israel was not seen at the time as what I call a Prussia-like power. Prussia was a very small state in the 19th Century both by land mass and population. But it has a very powerful military. It was this tiny state which morphed through conquest into the German Empire, the successor the Holy Roman Empire (of the German Nation) while the pretender, the (multi-ethnic. Hapsburg) Austrian Empire collapsed and disintegrated into Austria and Hungary and other pieces.

5. In 1986 one did not yet foresee that the banner of Communism would to China and how China became Nationalistic and merged Capitalism with Communism, especially outside its jurisdictional national borders.

6. That the Muslim Bretherin would emerge as an institution throughout the Muslim world was also not foreseen and that a ISIS would emerge for a while as a Muslim Empire in Iraq and Syria was also not foreseen.

7. Last but not least are the events in the European Union, NATO, Ukraine. and the Headscarf Women's Revolution now unfolding in Iran. Who knows how this will go? But the blame is squarely placed by Iran's former President (a historically American title, as in the case of George Washington), now the Ayatollah Ali Kamenei, on the United States and Israel. Amazing, isn't it?

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