What is the great conflict of this era? Who has the authority to identify exactly what it is? In the post 9/11 world, George Bush has made it perfectly clear what that conflict is: the war on terror. In Roger Cohen’s “An Obsession the World Doesn’t Share,” Cohen argues that terrorism is not the theme of the hour; the rest of the world has its own critical issues and the U.S. has little or no support in its fight. Every nation and continent has its own problems and the war on terror only isolates the United States. Cohen effectively describes the concerns of the rest of the world: Latin America is still developing with poverty and corruption ruining the process; the Asian community is concerned with China and India’s enormous economic expansion and the consequences this will have on the rest of the continent; Europe is dealing with the growing pains of the European Union and how to coordinate their military, economic, and political policies; and finally Africa is plagued by disease, especially AIDS, and poverty on a continental scale. I believe that Cohen’s depiction of the world and its problems successfully diminish the importance of the war on terror. These problems are very real and need to be addressed now. Bush’s mindset as we invaded Afghanistan and Iraq was extremely narrow: the U.S., as a superpower, will knock out the ruling terrorist regimes and set up a government that will bring democracy and peace to the region. As it turns out, it required a great deal more in time, money, and lives. We were forced to set up an occupation with no end in sight. Yet recently, Bush has called for more aid from the U.N. to help the war on terror. He called for cooperation and action in challenging the terrorist threat. (Wolf) Such continued pressure for aggression is only seen as America’s attempt to cultivate fear and impose an aggressive culture on a world still taken with the notion that the end of the Cold War has opened unprecedented possibilities for peace....