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Duty is what one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation. Recognizing a duty means a person theoretically commits himself to its fulfillment without considering one's own self-interest, even involving some sacrifice of immediate self-interest. Duty is often perceived as something owed to one's country (patriotism), or to one's homeland or community. Remember John Kennedy's 1961 Inaugural Address when he quoted his former Headmaster George St John, albeit without attributing, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
Questions of national, ethnic, sectarian and religious identity were debated in the aftermath of 9/11. The spread of terrorism had already started causing deep fissures in muslim societies, some countries used that as a pretext to label "freedom fighters" as "terrorists". Frustrations forcibly kept latent erupted in the form of the "Arab Spring". Many Arab countries descended into chaos, their mostly mediocre hereditary leadership adding to the mayhem. With Al-Qaeda inculcating a more virulent form of terrorism, the Islamic State (IS) came into being.Setting personal examples of propriety and moral behavior, the foremost duty of the leaders of any reasonably just political society should be to make their country a better place for their citizens to live in, a higher purpose than the affiliation to various individuals, entities and/or family, etc.
In societies consumed with "individualism," personal gratification and self-interest becomes paramount. Democracy is not at fault, the moral quality of our leadership across the broad spectrum consists of dishonest, corrupt and incompetent persona whether in secular and religious parties, the socio-economic elite and the Armed Forces, bureaucracy,...