TERROR AND LIBERALISM

A manifesto for an aggressive liberal response to terrorist attacks, this text argues that in the terror war we are not facing a battle of the West against Islam, a clash against civilizations, rather, that we are facing the same battle that tore Europe apart during most of the 20th century, only in a new version. It is the clash of liberalism and its enemies: the battle between freedom and totalitarianism that arose in Europe many years ago and spread to the Muslim world. The author considers the wars against fascism and communism from the past and draws cautionary lessons from them. He also draws a liberal programme for the present from those past experiences, a programme that departs from the policies of the Bush administration.