Praying is once again on the increase across the world, thank God, which is just as well since apart from the power of prayer, there is little else for mankind to put its faith in - in the frighteningly inadequate politicians now in charge of our affairs, least of all.
One reason, I think, is that unlike in the old days when the best and brightest were encouraged to make history by going into politics, today they are encouraged - or at any rate irresistibly tempted - to make money by going into the City. Instead of the high-flyers having their eyes on the stars, they have their snouts in the trough (even archbishops, in battling with BA, seem to rely on the power of money).
This is a worldwide phenomenon. In the age of global capitalism it is Adam Smith's invisible hand - market forces - which determines the fate of nations.
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History having ended after the Cold War, there seemed to be no further need for statesmen. Entrepreneurs, financiers, accountants; these began to take centre stage, with the foreign ministers - once major figures on the international chessboard - cast out into the wings. Apart from Condoleezza Rice and Margaret Beckett, of course, I can't name one contemporary foreign minister.
Nevertheless a consensus is growing that diplomacy, rather than soldiers, must be the answer. Unfortunately statecraft requires statesmen, and there are none left.
The US is particularly bereft. The old East Coast WASP class, which created Nato, has given way to Texan tycoons. In Britain, spin-doctoring apparatchiks have replaced the old governing class; rudderless men are also in charge in Beijing and Moscow.
So down on your knees, my friends, it is the only hope!
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