New at Reason: Shikha Dalmia on Bollywood vs. Jihad
For a decade now, America has been fighting the scourge of Islamist terrorism by deploying its considerable hard power. Washington has launched wars in two allegedly hostile countries, launched drone attacks in allegedly friendly countries, tortured countless terror suspects, and unleashed Transportation Security Administration inspectors to grope and fondle its own citizens. But with the debt and deficit spiraling out of control and with civil libertarians up in arms over the loss of liberties for a war that has no conceivable end, American hard power is arguably maxed out. Is there any other force in the world that can meet the challenge?
Yes there is, writes Shikha Dalmia: Bollywood, India’s flamboyant film industry. Just as the Beatles and rock n’ roll helped bring down the Kremlin, Bollywood might yet prove to be the undoing of Islamic fundamentalism.