The dividing walls of hostility -- The roots of othering -- The forms of othering -- The violent consequences of othering -- Voices of the moral imperative -- And the walls come tumbling down.

The historical record of an individual depends upon context. The United States of the last decade has suffered a series of crisis that are comparable in some ways to those of Poland in the 1970s. Taken together, they have created a mood of misery, but also the possibility for a hopeful transformation of politics. Barack Obama serves a function in American politics today similar to that served by Karol Wojtyła three decades ago.

The historical record of an individual depends upon context. The United States of the last decade has suffered a series of crisis that are comparable in some ways to those of Poland in the 1970s. Taken together, they have created a mood of misery, but also the possibility for a hopeful transformation of politics. Barack Obama serves a function in American politics today similar to that served by Karol Wojtyła three decades ago.