The Stupidity of War

American Foreign Policy and the Case for Complacency
Erscheinungsjahr 2021
ISBN: 978-1-108-84383-6
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 342 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 626 g

It could be said that American foreign policy since 1945 has been one long miscue; most international threats - including during the Cold War - have been substantially exaggerated. The result has been agony and bloviation, unnecessary and costly military interventions that have mostly failed. A policy of complacency and appeasement likely would have worked better. In this highly readable book, John Mueller argues with wisdom and wit rather than ideology and hyperbole that aversion to international war has had considerable consequences. There has seldom been significant danger of major war. Nuclear weapons, international institutions, and America's super power role have been substantially irrelevant; post-Cold War policy has been animated more by vast proclamation and half-vast execution than by the appeals of liberal hegemony; and post-9/11 concerns about international terrorism and nuclear proliferation have been overwrought and often destructive. Meanwhile, threats from Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, or from cyber technology are limited and manageable. Unlikely to charm Washington, Mueller explains how, when international war is in decline, complacency and appeasement become viable diplomatic devices and a large military is scarcely required.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Mueller, John

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Militärwesen
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Weltgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Part I. Assessing the Threat Record: 1. Korea, massive extrapolation, deterrence, and the crisis circus; 2. Vietnam, containment, and the curious end of the cold war; 3. Military intervention and the continued quest for threat after the cold war; 4. Al-Qaeda and the 9/11 wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan; 5. Chasing terrorists around the globe and other post-9/11 ventures; Part II. Evaluating Present Threats: 6. The rise of China, the assertiveness of Russia, and the antics of Iran; 7. Proliferation, terrorism, humanitarian intervention, and other problems; 8. Hedging, risk, arrogance, and the Iraq syndrome.

Über Autor(innen)

Mueller, John
John Mueller is a political scientist at Ohio State University, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, and member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.