Dealing with 21st century tribalism.

Yes, Virginia, there are really, really backward people and, contrary to the belief of Nancy Pelosi, none works in the Bush White House.

We are accustomed to adversarial states with rational goals, like China. In the long run, China may constitute a greater threat . . . Yet the darkest cloud on the 21st-century horizon is big states whose leaders may simply like to fight. Their reasons are tied up with pride, vengeance and martial religiosity and cannot be gratified through negotiations.

"The Tribal Way of War. Forget Clausewitz: Nations now fight clans driven by pride, vengeance and martial religiosity." By Robert D. Kaplan, Wall Street Journal Online, 7/19/06 (emphasis added).