(L The Best in Scholarship from Cambridae The Idea of Europe From Antiquity to the European Union ~1~~ Anthony Pogden, Editor Thisbook addresses the questionof whatit means,and has meant, to be "European," covering the period from Antiquity to the end of the ~~I twentieth century. ~~~~W~~~I Woodrow Wilson Center Press Series Copublished with the Woodrow Wilson Center 0-521-79171-5, Hardback, $65.00 0-521-79552-4. Paperback. $23.00 O)lii) ~I Second Metropolis Pragmatic Pluralism in Gilclecl Age Chicago, Q%~) Silver Age Moscow, and Meiji Osalta BlairA.Ruble By comparing North America's, Russia's, and Japan's "second cities"-- Chicago, Moscow, and Osaka--Second Merl-opol~sdiscloses the extent to which social fragmentation, frequently viewed as an obstacle to democratic development, actually fostered a "pragmatic pluralism" that nurtured pluralistic public policies. Woodrow Wilson Center Press Series 0-521-80179-6 Hardback 835.00 Books in the Woodvow Wilson Centev Press Series ave available to Woodvow Wilson Associates at a 20% discount. s~ · ·ru ~s~:cclla: Booksfor Insightand Understanding ;:~he P~~ed~States 2 nnd ~i:at~ ( 1~~000~ ~l)gnniggii(~~ TheUnited States and Originsof Terrorism RogueStates and Pclkiston,1947-2000 I'1~·,~~~,~·i~··'n,~~'~~···?s,~,,~~, U,S,Foreign Policy Diro,c-l~n,~tctl .-i Ilies C~,~,tni~l,ilc~~,clfie~·,l~e C~,ltl 1·I~1,· DennisKux editedby Wolter Reich RobertS.Litwak ~,c·~~~~l;,,·cll,~onl(,)~CI~ll,c·~· Lngl,clc~· "A nlust-rcnd for anyone who "l~aises the I-i$]lt qllcstions "l'ul-suels] the patholo~n~ of seeks to ~lnderstand the comples I·egarding;l tl-uly complrs anci terrorisln throug]l tile cencurics U.S.-l'akistan relatiollship." yet vrl-y timely sul?ject." ...A f~scinating amount of --AmbassadorThomas 1~. --Zbigniew Urzczinski, former in for-ma tiol~.~'---- CT~lsl~i,Wto,,I'ost l-'ickcring National Security Advisel- S1S.~5 paperback $72.~j paprl-hack $iS.~i p"p"b"ck Publishedby TheWoodrow Wilson Center Press · Distributedby TheJohns HopkinsUniversity Press I-S()()-.ii7-S~i;7 · \\·w\\~\~~hupbooks.com · 20% tli~col,~~,,oIl/ilro,l Cc,~le,·dss~,rio,c·s WQ WQWINTER 2002 THE WILSON QUARTERLY Published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars WQ Web site: Wilsonquarterly.com 11 THE CRISIS WITHIN ISLAM by Richard W. Bulliet Why did so few Islamic leaders forthrightly condemn the attacks of September 11? It’s the latest symptom of a crisis of authority that has been building for more than a century—and which now must be resolved. 20 WHAT IS NATURE WORTH? by E. O. Wilson One-fifth of Earth’s plant and animal species could vanish or be bound for extinction in the next several decades. A founding father of sociobiology makes a passionate practical and moral case for preserving genetic diversity. 40 DO THE PEOPLE RULE? by Michael Lind Popular sovereignty is the foundation of the American political system, but the nation’s leaders—from James Madison to Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan—have been divided over its meaning for practical government. 50 THE ONCE AND FUTURE MUSEUM Museums and the Democratic Order by Miriam R. Levin How the museum evolved, from Egypt, to Fifth Avenue, to Bilbão, to the Web. The Museum as Artifact by Jayne Merkel Today’s museum buildings get more attention than the exhibits they house. departments 2 EDITOR’S COMMENT 107 CURRENT BOOKS Honor Moore 3 CORRESPONDENCE on the poet’s voice 8 FINDINGS Kai Bird on Edward Teller A Fire Bell in the Night Cruelty to Animals Jim Sleeper Punching the President on nationalism Reviews by Justin Kaplan, Rosanne Cash, 81 THE PERIODICAL OBSERVER Mark Kingwell, Christopher Lydon, While America Slept Allison Eir Jenks, and others Philosophers vs. Philosophes Covering the War 128 FROM THE CENTER cover: Kapok Tree (1995), by Alexis Rockman. Courtesy of Gorney, Bravin & Lee, New York. Design by David Herbick. The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. USPS 346-670 | Volume XXVI, Number 1 | Printed in the U.S.A. Editor’s Comment dward O. Wilson is widely known as the pioneer of sociobiology, a theory often criticized or applauded for what many see as its Econservative implications for political life. In books such as Sociobiology: The New Synthesis (1975) and On Human Nature (1979), the Harvard University entomologist has argued that human behavior, like that of other animals, is most powerfully influenced by the gene’s imperative to survive and transmit its precious cargo of information to future generations. Critics have assailed the theory as, among other things, deterministic and overly pessimistic about the possibilities of improving the human condition. In Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (1998), Wilson caused more con- troversy by arguing that his brand of biologically based thinking should be extended into the social sciences, the humanities, and every other domain of human knowledge. (See our excerpt, “Resuming the Enlightenment Quest,” WQ, Winter 1998.) In this issue, Wilson puts on another one of his hats, as a concerned sci- entist deeply troubled by the disappearance of plant and animal species around the globe. (He built his career on the patient, loving study of ants.) It is a stance that would seem to put him squarely in a very different politi- cal camp. But Wilson’s whole career shows that the best ideas—and the best minds—are not prisoners of political ideology. Indeed, his own field of sociobiology has already spawned not just whole new fields of inquiry and new debates but new thinkers, some of whom take his insights in very dif- ferent directions than any of his critics (and perhaps Wilson himself) expected. As we enter the Age of the Gene, one of the few certainties is that Wilson will be seen as one of its seminal figures, an original voice to which it is always worth listening. Editor: Steven Lagerfeld The Wilson Quarterly (ISSN-0363-3276) is published in Deputy Editor: James M. Morris January (Winter), April (Spring), July (Summer), and Managing Editor: James H. Carman October (Autumn) by the Woodrow Wilson International Senior Editor: Robert K. Landers Center for Scholars at One Woodrow Wilson Plaza, Literary Editor: Stephen Bates 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. Associate Editor: Justine A. Kwiatkowski 20004–3027. Complete article index available online at Editors at Large: Ann Hulbert, Jay Tolson http://wwics.si.edu/WQ/WEBIND.HTM. Subscriptions: Copy Editor: Vincent Ercolano one year, $24; two years, $43. Air mail outside U.S.: one year, Contributing Editors: Martha Bayles, Linda $39; two years, $73. Single copies mailed upon request: $7; Colley, Denis Donoghue, Max Holland, Stephen outside U.S. and possessions, $8; selected back issues: $7, Miller, Jeffery Paine, Walter Reich, Alan Ryan, including postage and handling; outside U.S., $8. Periodical Edward Tenner, Charles Townshend, Alan Wolfe, postage paid at Washington, D.C., and additional mailing Bertram Wyatt-Brown offices. All unsolicited manuscripts should be accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. Members: Send Researchers: Diana Gambrel, Rajarshi Sen changes of address and all subscription correspondence with Librarian: Zdenek˘ V. David Wilson Quarterly mailing label to Subscriber Service, Editorial Advisers: K. Anthony Appiah, The Wilson Quarterly, P.O. Box 420406, Palm Coast, FL Robert Darnton, Nathan Glazer, Harry Harding, 32142–0406. (Subscriber hot line: 1-800-829-5108.) Robert Hathaway, Elizabeth Johns, Postmaster: Send all address changes to The Wilson Jackson Lears, Seymour Martin Lipset, Robert Quarterly, P.O. Box 420406, Palm Coast, FL 32142–0406. Litwak, Wilfred M. McClay, Richard Rorty, Microfilm copies are available from Bell & Howell Blair Ruble, Martin Sletzinger, S. Frederick Information and Learning, 300 North Zeeb Road, Starr, Philippa Strum, Joseph Tulchin, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106. U.S. newsstand distribution Martin Walker by Ingram Periodicals, Inc. (for information, call 1-800-627- Founding Editor: Peter Braestrup (1929–1997) 6247, ext. 33660). Advertising: Kathy Read, Publisher: Kathy Read Tel.: (202) 691-4018, Fax: (202) 691-4036. Publisher/Mail Business Manager: Suzanne Napper Order: Kalish, Quigley & Rosen, Tel.: (212) 399-9500, Circulation: Cary Zel, ProCirc, Miami, Fla. Fax: (212) 265-0986. 2 Wilson Quarterly CorrespondenceCorrespondence Letters may be mailed to One Woodrow Wilson Plaza, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004–3027, or sent via facsimile, to (202) 691-4036, or e-mail, to [email protected]. The writer’s telephone number and postal address should be included. For reasons of space, letters are usually edited for publication. Some letters are received in response to the editors’ requests for comment. events in the first half of the 21st century.) By Taking Issue contrast, my comments on National Public Radio According to Peter Berkowitz and Benjamin did reflect my own views, indeed, the same view Wittes [“The Professors and Bush v. Gore,” WQ, that I have elaborated in my academic writing: On Autumn ’01], my “work dripped with disdain for the the one hand, the Court, with its decision on conservative majority” of the Supreme Court long Bush v. Gore, might well have done the nation a before Bush v. Gore. This is simply not true. big favor, and no one should accuse the justices In fact, a forthcoming book of mine goes out of of partisan motives. (In his strident book on Bush its way to defend the Supreme Court’s decisions v. Gore, Alan Dershowitz sharply criticizes me in the area of campaign finance. In contrast to the for saying this.) On the other hand, the Court’s rea- harsh judgments of Buckley v. Valeo (1976) and its soning was embarrassingly weak as a matter of progeny that generally prevail in the academy, I law, and for this reason it has serious problems from defend the basic principles of the Court’s the standpoint of legitimacy.