"With the decline of the United States as the world's leader, I find it important to look around our globe for intelligent people who have the depth of understanding that could perhaps chart a way to the future. One such person is Bernard-Henri Levy a French philosopher who was born in Beni Saf, French Algeria on November 5, 1948. . The Boston Globe has said that he is "perhaps the most prominent intellectual in France today." Although his published work and political activism has fueled controversies, he invokes thought provoking insight into today's controversial world and national views. As a young man and Zionist he was a war correspondent for "Combat" newspaper for the French Underground. Following the war Bernard attended Lycee Louis-le-Grand in Paris and in 1968; he graduated with a degree in philosophy from the famous Ecole Normale Superieure. This was followed by him traveling to India where he joined the International Brigade to aid Bangladeshi freedom fighters.