Why applying the lessons of the past does not always work

Brendan Nelson made his alternative PM debut at the National Press Club yesterday. After plumbing the depths of opinion poll hell by becoming Brendan 007, he has adopted the very simple philosophy of trying to be himself. Nelson's natural personality is a blend of emotion and protection of self-interest, which may explain why he initially joined Labor but rose to be the Liberal leader. It also explains this off-the-cuff plea to define our values against terrorism.

My children’s generation is facing something that isn’t all that easy to see in day-to-day life, but it is resurgent totalitarianism which in the form, in the main, of Islamic extremism throughout the world and we have to be clear about precisely what we stand for and what we will do with our allies throughout the world.

The problem with this rhetoric, which seems to be setting the Liberals up to become lock-stepped to McCain's policy of confrontation, is that it betrays the conservative belief that communism and Islamist philosophy are similar political doctrines. The only thing communism and Islamism have in common, other than being 'isms', is a tendency towards greatly curtailing individual freedom. Communism relies on individuals subordinating themselves to the state for the greater good, while Islamism relies on individuals wholly embracing a narrow interpretation of the Koran. One sees the state as the ultimate entity, while the other sees it as a collection of true believers.

The real difficulty for conservatives schooled in Cold War politics is that Islamism is a totally different beast. Whereas communism evolved into a struggle between two global superpowers, each offering an alternative view on government and political organisation, Islamism has no such power base. Islamism has control of no government, but in the age of globalisation it has employed the same kind of franchise and internet delivery systems favoured by corporations such as McDonalds and Dell. The Cold War relied on two mighty military machines conducting a series of proxy wars against each other. Islamism is not reliant on military might. It relies on winning the battle of ideas, a battle it can shape by using the modern media techniques of spin and alleging to speak for the disenfranchised.

The US seems to seriously believe that fighting Islamist inspired fighters in Iraq is equivalent to fighting the proxy Soviet forces of the Viet Cong. The problem is that the war on the ground does not itself frustrate the movement. On the contrary, it provides it with great media attention and a legitimacy it craves as the standard bearer for Arab and Muslim grievances from Morocco to Indonesia.

The best way to deal with the issue is not to promote Islamists to the level of the Supreme Soviet. The greatest mistake made since 2001 has been the invasion of Iraq, a high risk strategy which was poorly executed. The second mistake has been the mishandling of domestic terrorist legislation and investigations and the failure to bring communities together rather than harness division for political ends. If Nelson is serious about the values that bind us as a nation, he would drop his value-based assault on public schools, an assault that leads to less unity and greater secretarian education of the next generation.