Oh, and Hanson is a self-identified liberal Democrat. Read him. You won’t be sorry

My problem with VDH is that I’ve read a huge amount of him, and I pretty much need to move on now.

He was terrifically helpful to me in thinking about the WOT (at first, though not so much now).

But he hasn’t been as helpful in thinking about culture.

VDH tends toward apocalyptic predictions.

That’s fine; his predictions could come true; even if they don’t come true they can be useful insights into fault lines in our culture now; they could serve as important warnings.

But I’ve absorbed most of his “narrative” (and I don’t use the word as a term of dismissal) and it fails me often enough that it can’t become my own narrative.

Here’s an example.

VDH consistently warns Europe that Americans, offended by European anti-Americanism, will one day turn their backs on the world, refuse to defend Europe or anyone else, retreat to our shores.

That’s plausible, and I was moved by his vision when I first read it.

But in fact, exactly the opposite is happening.

Polls show American desire to “work together with” Europe increasing, not decreasing (there’s a new poll out today)—while showing exactly the opposite with Europe. Europe is getting more isolationist. Not America.

As well, and I’ve been wanting to post about this (no time today) I am seeing fascinating cases of individual Europeans and Americans actively reaching out to each other (I’ll post when I have time).

I can’t think of other examples, but consistently, with VDH’s cultural predictions, I’ve found his take on things to be darker than it should be–or than I can be myself.

I spent my whole childhood having my mom tell me “Don’t be negative.” As an adult I’ve discovered she was right.

I am a self-made optimist. (Well, mother-made.) To the extent that I have a foreign policy/cultural analysis “guru” it is Walter Russell Mead.

There’s something in the human spirit, or in God, or in the universe, that keeps us going, keeps the grass springing up between the cracks in the concrete, and the people getting up each day and starting fresh. I don’t believe the apocalypse is near.

And I believe the American people are the golden retrievers of the world. As a people, we’re just naturally happy even when we probably ought to be worried sick.

I guess that’s my problem with VDH ultimately: if he were a dog, he wouldn’t be a Golden. Heíd be one of the shepherds, highly intelligent, smarter than a Golden, but nervous and easily spooked. (I hope thatís not insulting in any way; I donít mean it to be.)

I donít think thatís America.