I grew up in the 1990s — forget about being politically conscious, I had no interest in foreign policy or world affairs until 9/11 happened. I hated reading. I was terrified of reading. My parents would implore me, “Please Ali, read a book, take some interest in the outside world. But I never really felt a sense of compulsion to do so because America was buffered by two oceans — violence happened over there. It didn’t happen here. War happened over there. It didn’t happen here. America was dominant. Essentially the debate during the 1990s was what do we do with this preponderant inheritance of power?
