Niall Ferguson, I just want to say, has written several volumes on Western Civilization, and is a professor of history at Harvard. These are his words on the possibility of World War in 2007:

As in the 1930s, too, the West fell back on wishful thinking. Perhaps, some said, Ahmadinejad was only sabre-rattling because his domestic position was so weak. Perhaps his political rivals in the Iranian clergy were on the point of getting rid of him. In that case, the last thing the West should do was to take a tough line; that would only bolster Ahmadinejad by inflaming Iranian popular feeling. So in Washington and in London people crossed their fingers, hoping for the deus ex machina of a home-grown regime change in Teheran.

And so, the Tehran Missile Crisis begins, as the Iranians are able to build a weapon and point it at Tel Aviv. You all should read the whole thing.

Posted by Ryan S. on Monday, January 16, 2006 at 1:42 PM | Permalink |