Those who do not study history are condemned to repeat it

"How America Met the Mideast: The U.S. encounter with the Middle East began centuries before the Iraq War, propelled by idealists eager to transform the region in their own image." by Robert Kagan, The Washington Post, Book World, January 21, 2007. Review of POWER, FAITH, AND FANTASY: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present by Michael B. Oren

The review opens:

We often hear that Americans know little about other nations; a bigger problem is that we know too little about ourselves, our history and our national character. When it comes to U.S. foreign policy, in particular, we were all born yesterday, unaware of how present policies and attitudes fit into persistent historical patterns.