What cracks me up about the main conclusion of this piece, that once foreign culture X loses its edge as an enemy, the well dries up, has an interesting counter

What cracks me up about the main conclusion of this piece, that once foreign culture X loses its edge as an enemy, the well dries up, has an interesting counterpoint in Arabic language literature. I will not debate the enemy thing, but the perception is there, with centuries of making literature from the region even more exotic prior thanks to orientalism, and yet there are less than a dozen American uni profs I can name that specialize in Arab literature that are not in fact Arab literateurs that make a living out of their profession/hobby (many write literature themselves, and the community is small and self-feeding). And yet, you would think people care. But as a former Arabic language major, the amount of interest in learning Arabic while totally circumscrbing the obvious cultural and literary component is hilariously omni-present with the gaggles of wannabe intelligence officers. I can go on and on, but is nice to see the USSR counterpoint.