Roundtable Discussion on "The Age of Illusions: How America Squandered Its Cold War Victory" by Andrew Bacevich
For H-Diplo
Bottom line: This symposium review of "The Age of Illusions: How America Squandered Its Cold War Victory" by Andrew Bacevich generally agrees with the author's thesis that American foreign policy overstretched in the aftermath of the Cold War and that Francis Fukuyama's "The End of History" thesis led American policymakers down a triumphant and ultimately misguided path. The book and reviewers criticize the American elite who tried to dominate the world instead of providing for people at home.
The symposium includes reviews by the following scholars:
Emma Ashford - Cato Institute: Ashford argues that Bacevich makes a compelling case that Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama were merely different versions of the same liberal internationalist attempt to reshape the world in America’s image. The rise of President Trump is an inevitable populist domestic backlash against globalization and military adventurism overseas. Ashford argues, "The book makes a persuasive and easy-to-follow argument that something went terribly wrong with American politics in the post-Cold War period."
https://www.realclearpublicaffairs.com/public_affairs/2020/11/20/roundtable_discussion_on_the_age_of_illusions_how_america_squandered_its_cold_war_victory_by_andrew_bacevich_650470.html
