BiR,
I'm sorry, I completely missed your post and your kind remembrance of me. Am still very much hoping to get to meet soon.
I enjoyed the book very much. I did have some reservations toward the end, primarily with his comment, as I noted earlier, that Mideast regimes are so dependent on our money, equating it to the Soviet Union's dependence on Western trade. A very poor analogy. Soviet dependence was one way; that is not the case, obviously with Middle Eastern governments. I also think that an equation of Communist "faith" with Islamism which has wider appeal, I believe, among broader section of Arab populations than Marx-Lenin did in the Soviet bloc. I don't think these points detract, though, from the universalism of natural rights. But it should encourage us to be careful in our national security strategy.
I have not seen those influences [Strauss and Machiavelli] discussed
Are you serious (judging from the chuckles at the end of that sentence, I'm guessing not

)? Several earlier discussions were centered around Strauss and Machiavelli when discussing neo-conservatism. IMO, those connections are tangential unless specified. I'm afraid, though, that I probably can't discuss it very intelligently anyway. I've only read one book by Strauss and it's been years since I read
The Prince, the only thing I've read by Machiavelli.
And who is Emmanuel Goldstein?
You got me. Who is he?
Take care, my friend.
KJ,
Just wanted to remind you of your September 14 commitment to address my earlier post. Not at all to be sarcastic, I know it is easy to forget posts/threads once they drop off the first page. Hoping to hear back from you. BTW, I apologize for my earlier sarcasm, I was just very frustrated with the discussion.
Joseph Botwinick,
If you see this post, am curious if you've read other neo-cons? I read Robert Kagan's
The Twilight Struggle about the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and the Reagan Administration's response years ago and was very impressed. Am about to order a couple of his books (
Present Dangers and
Paradise and Power) from Amazon. Will let you know once I read them. BTW, I haven't read Sharansky's memoirs yet, hope to get to it in a couple of months.