At the end of the Cold War, the United States stood tall as the world's sole superpower. Steven M. Walt, Professor of International Affairs at Harvard University who writes a column for Foreign Policy magazine, is convinced that the old ideal and workhorse of "liberal hegemony" has resulted in a catastrophic situation for contemporary Americans. With great consistency, Walt savages the U.S.'s humiliating interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. In addition, the country has spent nearly $6 trillion on the voracious global war on terrorism.
It is a relief to see Walt declare a "pox on both your houses" when it comes to the misguided foreign policies of both the Republican and Democratic parties. He makes it clear that over the years the American foreign policy establishment did not pay close attention to the political developments in other countries; they over-estimated America's ability to shape complex societies and underplayed the costs of an expansive global involvement in faraway places. At one time many citizens hoped that America's role as a superpower would result in saving the world. Now millions of people are fearful that the current Trump administration might do just the opposite — destroy our world as we know it.
Walt ends on a dark note:
"The United States continues to embrace a flawed grand strategy, but its implementation is now in the hands of the least competent president in modern memory. The results of this deadly combination of foolish policy and inept statecraft are already apparent: U.S. influence is declining, but its global burdens are not."
