Inside this teahouse in Kabul, men gathered to watch the Obama Inauguration. These places remain unchanged from when I was last there 38 years ago. Men, and only men, gather in these joints, heated by wood-burning stoves, where the drink of choice is hot tea, sweetened, and the talk ranges across all things local -- or at most, regional.

That is how it was four decades ago.

Now, there is a TV, which in this shot, has captured all eyes in the house. When I lived in Afghanistan, there were no TV's.

And now, also, Afghans, like Iowans, no longer have the luxury of contemplating only their local environment. Like all of us, they are part of a global economy.

The Afghans' main exports, to date, have been terrorism and opium. In this context, I can understand if most Westerners feel like hating all Afghans, as ignorant, violent primitives all too willing to die in the name of Allah than to do anything productive with their lives.

But I've known another kind of Afghan, albeit in a time when our world was not so polarized by hatred as is now the case. If our new President can do anything to bring our world back into balance, it would be this: To allow the ancient teahouse tradition to return to its better days, when hatred of the West was not on everyone's lips but the promise of modernity was.

Then, this special land can and will start exporting, not violence, but the most succulent fruits and nuts ever known in Central Asia, not to mention kabobs, korma, nan, and so many more dishes, as first documented by Marco Polo, and later validated by me, among many others.

Peace in Afghanistan just might mean peace in all the world. Plus, all of us who love tasteful food could then feel a new wave of pleasure at the name of this ancient land. Imagine that! Breaking bread with one another, rather than blowing one another to smithereens.

Might it happen?

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