War and Foreign Policy

Conscription was an unjust, capricious, and immoral disaster then. We don't have any reason to think things will be different now.

Bacevich concludes with several suggestions for changes in American foreign policy, and among these is one that is especially excellent: For the United States, abolishing nuclear weapons ought to be an urgent national security priority…

We have become the people our founding fathers warned us (and tried to protect us) against.

Possibly, once the rush gets underway, the only "state" that will be left in Old America will be the District of Columbia.

Taxes are the price we pay for civilization.

"Why is it that people who rightly criticize the income tax are so quick to accept a national sales tax on consumption?"

Fareed Zakaria poses a fundamental question. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, America has dominated the world. How long can we remain in this position?

Andrew Bacevich has written a powerful but flawed criticism of American foreign policy. Both an academic historian and a professional soldier, he is exceptionally qualified to undertake such a critique.

If we, continuing to view ourselves in a hegemonic role, act to thwart these assertions of national ambition, we risk hostility and war.

Presented as part of the Mises Institute’s Brown Bag Seminar series on February 15, 1995 in Auburn, Alabama.