Imperial by Design
US involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq has hampered its efforts to contain nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran or resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, increasing pessimism about US foreign-policy goals or capabilities. The US was wrong to pursue a grand strategy asserting global dominance, argues scholar John Mearsheimer for the National Interest. Policymakers miscalculated, by overstating terrorism threats and overestimating the ease with which democracy spread around the world. The US national-security apparatus is unwieldy and threatens core freedoms in the country. Mearsheimer reviews US options and urges that the nation return to traditional “offshore balancing,” a strategy that sets priorities and prevents the rise of any dominant power in areas of the world most critical to US interests – the Persian Gulf, Northeast Asia and Europe. Mearsheimer concludes, “It is time for the United States to show greater restraint and deal with the threats it faces in smarter and more discerning ways.” – YaleGlobal
Imperial by Design
The US emphasized military endeavors and left many foreign-policy problems unresolved
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
John J. Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. He is on the Advisory Council of The National Interest, and his most recent book, “Why Leaders Lie: The Truth About Lying in International Politics,” was published in January 2011 by Oxford University Press.
http://nationalinterest.org/article/imperial-by-design-4576
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