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The Case for Restraint: Drawing the Curtain on American Empire

The United States should resist imperial temptations and instead pursue a foreign policy of restraint. 

Then President-Elect Donald J. Trump and President Barack Obama arrive for Trump’s inauguration ceremony in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2017. J. Scott Applewhite/Reuters

By experts and staff

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  • Stewart M. Patrick
    James H. Binger Senior Fellow in Global Governance and Director of the International Institutions and Global Governance Program

In my weekly column for World Politics Review, I discuss a new book by three scholars from the Cato Institute and review the arguments in favor of a more restrained U.S. foreign policy.

In a provocative new book, three scholars from the libertarian Cato Institute—John Glaser, Christopher A. Preble and A. Trevor Thrall—counsel the United States to abandon the pursuit of global primacy for a policy of prudence and restraint. “Fuel to the Fire: How Trump Made America’s Foreign Policy Even Worse (and How We Can Do Better)” is a scalding indictment not only of the 45th U.S. president, but also of a morally bankrupt national security establishment whose addiction to empire has embroiled the nation in misbegotten military misadventures. 

Read the full World Politics Review article here.