What Schmitt is saying here is very important, and it might very well end up being the true cost of the Afghanistan debacle. Every ruling class throughout history advances various claims about its own legitimacy, without which a stable political order is impossible. Legitimating claims can take many different forms and may change over time, but once they become exhausted or lose their credibility, that is pretty much it.
Read it all here, it’s a gem, HT to Matt Kennedy: https://wp.me/p1Yh9A-EV. It’s as brilliant of an analysis of the meaning of our debacle in Afghanistan as I’ve seen.
Positive Infinity 