Michael Beckley is convincing in his argument that the United States is the most efficient producer of power on the planet.
European Allies must decide whether or not to honor America as a global intervener by naming the new NATO headquarters building after John McCain.
The forward deployment is a legacy of the Cold War when the US was faced with a challenging Superpower and the need to protect its allies.
War memorials are ways in which nations define the conflict for posterity and thus are intensely political in presence and purpose.
Once a year or so, the US will complain about how little our allies do. Don’t worry. It is just ritualistic behavior expected of the incumbent and carries no weight back here.
Serious change in the global security order can come about only when the United States actually does less international intervening. Then, others will do more – if slowly at first.
Terrorism terrorizes. The public’s desire for protection will provoke a political response. The ban is a message to friends and family of terrorists.
In some American eyes, most recently in the Trump administration, the rich nations of the world appear to find excuses to do little for global security or even their own defense.
The rivalry of superpowers that we saw in the 20th century was a certain kind of world order. The hubris of one rich and powerful nation, the USA, is another – and one that is likely to end soon.
Trump’s lack of knowledge of foreign policy will draw the most attention for fear of him assuming command of America’s powerful and complex security apparatus.
