Apple-pie disorder: Anatol Lieven congratulates the Bush administration. Its oft-stated desire to bring democracy to the Arab world is a stroke of 'malign brilliance'. By tapping into an American missionary tradition, the new imperialists have succeeded in co-opting the liberal intelligentsia. The promise of unconditional peace at the point of a gun sits at the end of their messianic charge. And Tony Blair rides alongside: the 'heir of Gladstone, a muscular imperial Christian righting the world's wrongs, whether the world wants this or not.' [Open Democracy].

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