Doug Bandow

When the mobs start gathering in the streets of a major city in some distant nation, U.S. officials usually start jabbering. When fighting erupts and local politicians begin wringing their hands, U.S. Marines usually start reporting. Yet another grand nation-building exercise is about to begin. Years later, when cold hatred has replaced bloody combat, American … Continue reading “For America, a Nation-Building Disaster Avoided”

Winning the Un-War: A New Strategy for the War on Terrorism Charles Peña Potomac Books 272 pp. If critics of the Bush administration are setting themselves up for a stay at Gitmo, then Charles Peña will end up spending a long time in a particularly small cell. A senior fellow with the Coalition for a … Continue reading “Readings in the Age of Empire”

Peace is boring. How else to explain America’s seemingly incessant search for a new enemy? The Cold War might have been scary, but it provided an exciting challenge: contain the Evil Empire. Create an international coalition to defend the “free world.” Exciting, but we won. So the entire foreign policy establishment had to ask “now … Continue reading “Searching for the Next Enemy”

A shining city on a hill. A light unto the world. That’s what early Americans hoped their land would become. A beacon of liberty, beckoning others to follow. A place of refuge and hope for those fleeing tyranny or seeking opportunity. An oasis in the midst of conflict and chaos. This once described the United … Continue reading “A Foreign Policy of Fools”