The West Hasn’t Even Entered The OODA Loop

Even as our ideological enemies are poised to strike (or have already struck), the West still stands there, effectively blinded by its own ideology.

Tsahi Shemesh | September 23, 2026

What self-defense teaches us about recognizing ideological threats before they become impossible to ignore.

When I teach self-defense, I explain that the attacker has an enormous advantage before the first punch is thrown. He knows his intentions, has selected his target, and has already decided what he’s prepared to do. His victim may still be trying to understand what’s happening.

The attacker is already acting while the defender is only beginning to observe.

Military strategist John Boyd described decision-making through the OODA loop: Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act. Information is collected, interpreted, turned into decisions, and translated into action.

This model offers a way to examine a troubling question about Western society. What happens when a civilization becomes so committed to its assumptions that it struggles to recognize evidence contradicting them?

The Failure to Observe

In self-defense, the earliest warning signs often appear before physical contact. A stranger violates your personal space, ignores your boundaries, or deliberately blocks your exit. Recognizing these behaviors creates opportunities to respond.

The same principle applies to ideological threats.

Radical Islamist organizations have openly declared their objectives, recruited supporters, celebrated terrorist attacks, and used Western freedoms to spread their propaganda. Europol recorded 24 jihadist terrorist attacks in the European Union in 2024, including completed, failed, and foiled attacks.

These........

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