LONDON — "It's the economy, stupid!" declared Bill Clinton during his U.S. presidential election campaign. He was right then as well as now in emphasizing that economic issues are paramount with voters.

President George W. Bush thought that the war on terror overrode all other issues. After 9/11 this was the dominant factor in Western politics even if the term "war on terror" was inaccurate.

We need to beware of minds that fail to understand the dangers to our way of life other than recession and terrorism. There are real threats to human rights in the developed and developing worlds, and if we fail to confront these threats, we will jeopardize our own future.