Terror and Tolerance: A Review Of Leaving Without Losing: The War on Terror After Iraq and Afghanistan.

• Author: Coaty, Patrick C.
• Position: Book review

Terror and Tolerance: A Review of Leaving Without Losing: The War on Terror After Iraq and Afghanistan

By Mark Katz

Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2012, 147 pages, ISBN 9781421405582.

AMERICANS are in the middle of an election season, and even though American democracy is imperfect, there is little doubt about the importance democracy has in American political culture, a unique culture because it is not based on race, culture, ethnic or religious status. American political culture or the American nation is based on three pillars that have been codified by historical documents and laws: popular sovereignty, the rule of law, and tolerance. Although America has a diverse population, the ideals of the American nation and the structure of the sovereign state are compatible. Since the American Civil War and the resulting supremacy of the national government over the state governments, the average American pledges allegiance to both the nation and the state. This is possible because of the secular nature of the state and the protection of minorities through the rule of law and the respect for other's liberty and tolerance. American leaders and everyday Americans share a belief: given a choice, the average person would choose to live under an elected government as opposed to a government imposed on them. This is why the failure of American efforts to export democracy to the rest of the world and particularly to the Middle East is puzzling to most Americans.

Mark Katz's book Leaving Without Losing contributes to trying to analyze this failure and describe the lessons Americans should learn to design productive policies to address the challenges of the future. Professor Katz's work is insightful and his discussion of America's counter-terrorism policy is useful. In the beginning of the book he defines terrorism and analyzes the differences between President Bush's policies and those of President Obama. Despite the politics of the season, Katz's perspective should leave partisans on both sides amazed by how similar the two presidents' responses to the attacks on September 11, 2001 have been.

Since the attacks, there have been many books written on the War On Terror, but what makes Leaving Without Losing unique are two characteristics: first, is a discussion of the political structure of some of the states in the Islamic world, including Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Indonesia. Katz illustrates how democracy...