It's getting a little weird by now. I'll write an essay about something, then within a week someone with more authority writes another essay essentially confirming (or occasionally directly denying) what I wrote. For the most recent example, compare Cultural Traditions to this superb article analyzing the effects of Arab culture on their attempts to field modern armies.

"Developing" (what I would term "traditional") cultures time and again want just enough western technology to give them an edge on the rest of the world, be it their corner or the world en toto. They simply do not, perhaps cannot, understand that to be effective with western tools you must adapt at least some western ideals. Failing to do so simply results in expensive toys nobody knows how to use.

A bank shot via Yourish, who, to me at least, is rapidly becoming a valuable voice (albeit an openly biased one) in the Arab-Israeli conflict.