September 11 shocked many Americans into an awareness that they had better pay much closer attention to what the US government does in the world and how it is perceived. Many issues have been opened for discussion that were not on the agenda before. That's all to the good. It is also the merest sanity, if we hope to reduce the likelihood of future atrocities. It may be comforting to pretend that our enemies 'hate our freedoms,' as President Bush stated, but it is hardly wise to ignore the real world, which conveys different lessons. The president is not the first to ask: 'Why do they hate us?' In a staff discussion 44 years ago, President Eisenhower described 'the campaign of hatred against us [in the Arab world], not by the governments but by the people'. His National Security Council outlined the basic reasons: the US supports corrupt and oppressive governments and is 'opposing political or economic progress' because of its interest in controlling the oil resources of the region.

Foreign policy·Peace·Perception·Self reflection·Understanding