USA – Presidential posturing

With the American presidential election coming up next month, it is worth asking what aspects of capitalist culture will a new administration adopt, particularly as regards the Middle East. Will the defense of open markets and open minds be high on the agenda of the new president, and how does John McCain differ from Barack Obama in that regard? An interesting answer to these questions comes from Fouad Ajami, writing in the Wall Street Journal of September 10. Ajami, a professor of Middle East studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, was one of the intellectual godfathers of the Iraq invasion, someone close to the neoconservatives in Washington and a firm believer in America as beacon to the world. In his article, Ajami argues that signs of the public’s misgivings with Obama are the result of its uncertainty about the candidate’s capacities in foreign