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Should the U.S. Engage at All with the Wider World?

(Wall Street Journal) Richard N. Haass - What has become painfully clear is that our effort to remake the Middle East has failed. The gap between promises and results, benefits and costs, has been huge. At home, disillusionment and recrimination are pervasive. Intervention fatigue has set in, and the public no longer has an appetite for an ambitious foreign policy. A recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that most Americans prefer for the U.S. to deal with its own problems and to let other countries handle their own as best they can. These preferences cross party lines. It is one thing to question American overreach; it is something very different to question American reach. The world is not self-organizing. For the past 75 years, the U.S., more than any other factor, has created and maintained conditions of stability. Given the number and strength of forces now undermining order around the globe, a capable and reliable U.S. is more essential than ever before. The consequences of a lasting American retreat from the world would be dire. The Middle East is arguably the most salient example of what happens when the U.S. pulls back. The substance and signal of a diminished U.S. role have contributed greatly to instability in the region. Not acting can be every bit as consequential as acting. The writer is president of the Council on Foreign Relations.
2016-08-12 00:00:00
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