"Enthused with nationalistic self-importance" is interesting, because here in China, that nationalism is actually fueled by their perception of America. They believe America is a beligerant, nationalistic country who has the power to force other countries to do what they want. They believe America has that power because they think Americans are united, aggressive and ultra-patriotic. The Chinese government, operating under this assumption, has told the Chinese people: You should be more like the Americans.

Now granted, this is a deeply flawed conception of America, just as we have deeply flawed conceptions of China, Russia and the Islamic world. The author's lack of up-to-date perspective i...

"Enthused with nationalistic self-importance" is interesting, because here in China, that nationalism is actually fueled by their perception of America. They believe America is a beligerant, nationalistic country who has the power to force other countries to do what they want. They believe America has that power because they think Americans are united, aggressive and ultra-patriotic. The Chinese government, operating under this assumption, has told the Chinese people: You should be more like the Americans.

Now granted, this is a deeply flawed conception of America, just as we have deeply flawed conceptions of China, Russia and the Islamic world. The author's lack of up-to-date perspective is betrayed by his use of the 19th Century spelling "Moslem" when he should be writing Muslim.

Why is this important? Because it shows he doesn't know Arabic. He doesn't know the people. He's probably never been there, and if he has been there, he certainly wasn't paying attention.

He certainly doesn't understand the situation in China, because the dreams of the students aren't dead, but they were never exactly what he presumes they were. By and large, Chinese students have no interest in democracy as a means of micromanaging their government the way Americans do. They sought something different - mainly a tool to use against corruption. They wanted a country where they could "pull themselves up by their bootstraps" and largely, they got that.

They now want a country that is predominant in the world. They want the Chinese passport to be as usefull as the American one: when Americans travel, they don't have to constantly wait in line and interview for visas. They are almost never declined. Chinese want that too. Chinese people dream to be recognized as their rightful place as the most powerful and important country in the world.

Chinese students protested because they thought China was falling behind, and becoming weak. They still protest for those reasons. Their role model st

Their role model has always been America. The more time I spend here, the more I find that these countries are very similar.

Big and diverse. Held together through nationalism and ideology. Sensitive to what others think, but unwilling to moderate their excesses. Both share a deep feeling of entitlement to be "the greatest country on earth." Both hold elections, and in neither does the outcome change the face of the government very much. Both are moralizing, yet make exceptions for themselves rather than uphold the values they preach.

Both are complex and compelling nations, where the good and bad mix together to create something great.

We didn't lose China. They just don't want to do wha...

Their role model has always been America. The more time I spend here, the more I find that these countries are very similar.

Big and diverse. Held together through nationalism and ideology. Sensitive to what others think, but unwilling to moderate their excesses. Both share a deep feeling of entitlement to be "the greatest country on earth." Both hold elections, and in neither does the outcome change the face of the government very much. Both are moralizing, yet make exceptions for themselves rather than uphold the values they preach.

Both are complex and compelling nations, where the good and bad mix together to create something great.

We didn't lose China. They just don't want to do what we tell them, they want to do what we do. They want to be our equals. not our pawns. And that is very disconcerting to many Americans.

But the post-cold-war mentality, of which Bush, Bush and Clinton are all guilty, has been that "we won." Therefore, America accustomed itself to the role of presuming we had no need to treat other nations as equals. This is exactly how American relations with the Middle East and Russia have deteriorated and have returned to their old adversarial status.

In the case of the Middle East, the author's condescension is terrible, thinking of us as their saviors and treating them like ungreatfull children. As the Muslims see it, we did not liberate them from Communism - they liberated themselves. Especially in the case of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, the three hot beds of radicalism.