Robert Kaplan has published a long and thoughtful article on the perils of amnesia in the current issue of The American Interest. Entitled “On Forgetting the Obvious,” it dilates on the collusion of decadence and forgetfulness–on the corrosive effects of historical ignorance on national character. The whole thing is worth reading, and is available here (Hat tip, the indispensable Arts & Letters). Here’s a teaser:

While a good society should certainly never want to go to war, it must always be prepared to do so. But a society will not fight for what it believes, if all it believes is that it should never have to fight.

Amen.