The Russian writer and historian, Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, believed that one of the clearest indications of spiritual and moral decadence is a lack of courage, in personal lives and in government.  Decades ago, the Nobel laureate said, "A decline in courage may be the most striking feature which an outside observer notices in the West in our days.   The Western world has lost its civil courage . . . in each country, each government, each political party and, of course, in the United Nations."