In December 2010, China was heavily condemned for its failure to allow democracy activist Liu Xiaobo to attend to collect the Nobel Peace Prize. The western media, contrasting its spectacular economic growth through its adoption of state capitalism with its slow progress on political reforms and ‘human rights’, examined China’s record on ‘human rights’ and found it wanting. Similar judgements are often made about Muslim countries and, increasingly, about Islam itself.

The fervent debate surrounding the term “Broken Society” has been quite revealing. But is the debate willing to accept that individualism is its root cause?

Research papers on HT have become frequently seen recently. Some major research institutes have published papers on the issue. In 2003 the Heritage Foundation published a paper by Ariel Cohen and in 2004 the Nixon Center did the same for Zeyno Baran. However, a major development occurred in 2005 when Foreign Affairs published a paper by Zeyno Baran, entitled “Fighting the War of Ideas” in its November/December edition. In that article, Baran argues that HT is a radical organisation which poses a real and potent threat.

Four years after the War on Terror was launched and despite centuries of western interventions in the Muslim world, western nations remain in control but out of sorts. Over two centuries after the enlightenment, secular free market liberals dominate just about every important nation in the twenty first century, yet the western enlightened agenda has stalled. Cynicism has surged. A sense of a strong society is dead. And when voters are asked about their political rulers, the sense of apathy is electric.