Doug Bandow

Iraq is a wreck and Afghanistan is deteriorating, but that doesn’t foreclose war with Iran. To the contrary, there is no evidence that the president realizes how much destruction he has wrought. Give him enough time, he seems to believe, and pro-American democracies will bloom across the Mideast. So why not make it a trifecta? … Continue reading “Who Decides on War With Iran?”

The Elephant in the Room: Evangelicals, Libertarians, and the Battle to Control the Republican Party Ryan Sager Wiley, 2006 248 pp. The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It, How to Get it Back Andrew Sullivan HarperCollins, 2006 294 pp. Religious Americans always have been involved in politics. In recent years, evangelicals have become more active. … Continue reading “Readings in the Age of Empire”

The wild, drunken neocon joyride is over. After running as the candidate of national restraint and humility, George W. Bush metamorphosed into a modern Alexander the Great, promising to bring civilization and democracy to both the known and unknown worlds. He mobilized popular support for war in Iraq by manipulating dubious intelligence and spinning idyllic … Continue reading “The Wreck of the War Party”

Iraq was about many things, supporters of the war intone. The fact that no WMD were discovered is irrelevant. President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, and a host of Republican (and many Democratic) legislators solemnly proclaim that knowing what they know now they would go to war all over again. Why? It was … Continue reading “The Painful Death of Humanitarian Intervention”

State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III Bob Woodward Simon & Schuster, 2006 558 pp. “On some of these issues I don’t trust anybody that’s that sure,” Secretary of State Condi Rice allegedly said of the “extremists” on the Iraq war. One wonders why she continues to work for President George W. Bush. This … Continue reading “Readings in the Age of Empire”

PRIZREN, Kosovo – Life in a monastery is normally a challenge. But life in the Monastery of the Holy Archangels is a particular challenge. The original building was destroyed in the 16th century by the invading Turks. The Orthodox Church eventually built a small church, residence, and workshop amid the ancient ruins. In 2004, a … Continue reading “Nation-Destroying
in the Balkans”

George W. Bush has been vilified by the Left, but his harshest critics should be on the Right. One of the most momentous consequences of the Bush presidency is the destruction of the philosophical core of modern conservatism. Like most political movements, American conservatism incorporated various strains of thought, some at odds with one another. … Continue reading “Bush Versus Principled Conservatism”

Ethical Realism: A Vision for America’s Role in the World Anatol Lieven and John Hulsman Pantheon, 2006 199 pp. George W. Bush still has more than two years to serve as president, but it isn’t too early to proclaim his foreign policy to be a failure. America no longer is seen as unbeatable; its moral … Continue reading “Readings in the Age of Empire”

Shinzo Abe has become the youngest postwar prime minister of Japan. He is seen as a reformer, following the lead of his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi. Of greater significance to the U.S. and the rest of world, Abe also is a nationalist dedicated increasing his country’s global role. By encouraging Japan to become a normal nation … Continue reading “Normalizing Relations
With Japan”

Rare is it to find a president whose foreign policy has imploded as dramatically and catastrophically as has that of George W. Bush. Little more than a year after taking office, the candidate who espoused humility turned into the chief executive who embraced empire. Four years later, the administration’s drive for global primacy irrespective of … Continue reading “A Foreign Policy of Failure”