Tag

Al Qaeda

Browsing

Friedrich Nietzsche, when discussing the character of his countrymen, observed that to be German was to endlessly question ‘what is German’. Many attribute this sense of civic alienation to a combination of rapid industrialization, urban migration, and population explosion. The Germans were a people ‘becoming’ and ‘developing’, in the words of Nietzsche, like many or perhaps all nations today. Societies in the midst of change – real or imagined – find formerly bold, confident citizens questioning their national identity and its meaning. Extremist groups charge into this cultural void, first connecting the disaffected with one another – usually based on tribe, religion, or ethnicity- then connecting the group itself to some often mythic past. This use – and abuse – of history is not unique to extremists, but what distinguishes them from moderates is the way in which they deal with the nuances and contradictions of history. That which does…