Ron Suskind's Unified Theory Of Everything

For the last four years, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind has been analyzing the inner workings of the Bush administration. His 2004 book, " The Price of Loyalty, " used the resignation of former Treasury secretary Paul O ' Neil to illustrate how the administration closed ranks following 9/11. In 2006, Suskind ' s " The One Percent Doctrine " lays out Vice President Dick Cheney ' s vision of the threat of terrorism, and how it drove U.S. foreign policy. His latest, " The Way of the World, " ties together the disparate stories of a host of characters — an Afghan exchange student in the U.S., a prisoner in Guant á namo Bay, a CIA agent trying to infiltrate the black market for enriched uranium — to paint a vivid picture of the complex world as it functions in the early 21st century.

In the midst of the current financial meltdown, Suskind has developed a sort of Unified Theory of Everything, believing the same ends-justify-the-means mind-set that formed the basis for so much of the Bush administration ' s post-9/11 actions is also at the heart of the financial meltdown. Suskind argues this convergence has had a two-pronged effect: not only has the U.S. lost its standing as an exporter of freedom and democratic ideals, but its supersized brand of capita lism has ruined balance sheets around the world. He spoke to NEWSWEEK ' s Matthew Philips. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: America ' s loss of its moral authority is a big theme in your latest book. How has this loss affected our security situation?

Ron Suskind: It's been directly felt when it comes to the true threat of WMD and rogue nukes. That was a connection I found in the reporting, time and again. In terms of trying to get groups of people who don't like us to act in a certain way, to bend toward our example, it's like herding cats. You can't force them, you have to offer something they want. In the past we've been very good at that and we have to rediscover our ability for it.

So nuclear terrorists are like cats?
[Laughing] Not really. It's more like getting the producers of fissile material, or states where it might be found, to act in the broader interest of humanity. We're trying to deal with stateless entities now, these terror networks, using the traditional state-to-state dance of force and diplomacy and not fully recognizing the havoc this great empowerment of individuals has caused. Networks develop across borders, unified by a notion of shared interest. What that means for the U.S. is getting serious about this struggle for hearts and minds. We've completely forgotten the importance of America being a force for good in the world, and instead spent the better part of the last eight years exporting fear and anger and being—in the eyes of much of the world—an agent of reckless aggression. We've almost purposefully engendered anti-Americanism across the globe and that's been the great sin of the last eight years.

How does that play out in terms of our ability to gather intelligence?
The gold of this era is human intelligence, and the assistance of people who have proximity to the threatening actors. If people in vast numbers just look the other way, and say, "Fine, let America get their comeuppance," we're in trouble.