A thoughtful essay from Victor Davis Hanson on the thin veneer of civilization. Hanson appreciates, the way that many do not, how thin a veneer civilization is. In the 1970s, the two bright spots of civilization in the Middle East and the Soviet block were Lebanon and Yugoslavia. They were comparative islands of peace and security among tumultuous neighbors. Within twenty years they were ripped apart by civil war. We assume that our civilization is stable, but we may only be looking at the veneer. Hanson's essay is worth the read.
