Longitudes And Attitudes

4 Pages 1002 Words

Longitudes and Attitudes: Review and Reaction


Prior to September 11, along with many other college students, I led a sheltered life-having no knowledge about current events and foreign affairs. Not a worry in the world other than getting that last assignment in on time before heading out with my friends for the evening. I don’t know if it is me gaining maturity and becoming more interested or the media focusing intensely on national security, but I have become more aware and involved in these issues. So when I first heard about this assignment, I was excited to learn about the past and present of the war on terror. The first thing I looked for when opening this book was how and when the author proved his credibility. Did he have any political influences on his columns? He immediately explained himself as the foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times. He also assured the reader that there were no outside influences on the content of his columns. The author stated that the only person who saw the column each week prior to it being published was the copy editor who only edits them for grammar and spelling, but does not have any say about the opinion he adopts. But being he was working for the New York Times, did he feel the need to defend America rather than analyze both sides of the conflicts? He did defend America the entire time, providing both a strong opinion and the raw facts for the reader to analyze and opinionate on his or her own.
The purpose of this book is to help the reader understand why the west and the Arab worlds are so divided. It explains all the reason why some cultures in the Arab world are against America-how they were brought up to hate America. It shows how children in some worlds are taught only about religion and beliefs, and not about educating themselves for their future. Friedman included in this book a letter from former President Bill Clinton written to the Arab Street. In this...