×
We've got two pieces from our new November issue free as a preview to non-subscribers today.First up, John Judis explains how the Iraq war is a throwback to the great power imperialism that led to World War I:
Bush's foreign policy has been variously described as unilateralist, militarist, and hyper-nationalist. But the term that fits it best is imperialist. That's not because it is the most incendiary term, but because it is the most historically accurate. Bush's foreign policy was framed as an alternative to the liberal internationalist policies that Woodrow Wilson espoused and that presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Bill Clinton tried to put into effect as an alternative to the imperialist strategies that helped cause two world wars and even the Cold War. Bush's foreign policy represents a return not to the simple unilateralism of 19th-century American foreign policy, but to the imperial strategy that the great powers of Europe -- and, for a brief period, America, too -- followed and that resulted in utter disaster.Plus, Spencer Ackerman outlines the Bush administration's plans for permanent bases in Iraq:
The war in Iraq can sometimes feel like a military commitment in search of a rationale. Yet there has never been any doubt among insiders that the Bush administration intended Iraq to become an outpost of U.S. power projection throughout the Middle East. "A future Iraq would be a major player in and partner of the U.S. with regard to the U.S.’ security strategy and presence in the Middle East," recalls Paul Pillar, who from 2001 until 2006 was the U.S. intelligence community’s chief Mideast analyst. "This wasn’t going to be just an altruistic endeavor -- ‘we’ll overthrow Saddam and then politely bow out.' ... That was never envisioned."--The Editors
