Book Review

In an effort to come to terms and explain what went wrong with American foreign policy many people wrote books to give their views on the problem.  One of the best of these is Andrew Bacevich's The Limits of Power.

Bacevich bases much of his thought on the writings of Reinhold Niebuhr and Niebuhr's book The Irony of American History.  He identifies the U.S.' problem as following an economic policy of rampant consumerism based on the exploitation of fossil fuels and an unthinking faith in American military power.  These twin beliefs lead U.S. policy makers to get tangled up in troublesome places like Iraq and Afghanistan. The only problem is that the U.S. lacks the economic, political, and military resources to fight endless war.

Bacevich recommends that the U.S. return to more modest foreign and military policy goals.  H sees the answer to the economic problems to move from an economy fueled by fossil fuels to investin in alternative energy.  He also believes that the U.S. should return to a more realist international posture when it comes to diplomacy, and that the military should only used in limited circumstances.

I recommend this book and encourage people who want a thought provoking diagnosis to the American dilemma to invest the time to read this book.