The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism (American Empire Project)

“Andrew Bacevich speaks truth to power, no matter who’s in power, which may be why those of both the left and right listen to him.”—Bill...more

“Andrew Bacevich speaks truth to power, no matter who’s in power, which may be why those of both the left and right listen to him.”—Bill MoyersAn immediate New York Times bestseller, The Limits of Power offers an unparalleled examination of the profound triple crisis facing America: an economy in disarray that can no longer be fixed by relying on expansion abroad; a government transformed by an imperial presidency into a democracy in name only; and an engagement in endless wars that has severely undermined the body politic. Writing with knowledge born of experience, conservative historian and former military officer Andrew J. Bacevich argues that if the nation is to solve its predicament, it will need the revival of a distinctly American approach: the neglected tradition of realism. In contrast to the multiple illusions that have governed American policy since 1945, he calls for respect for power and its limits; aversion to claims of exceptionalism; skepticism of easy solutions, especially those involving force; and a conviction that Americans must live within their means. Only a return to such principles, Bacevich eloquently argues, can provide common ground for fixing America’s urgent problems before the damage becomes irreparable. Andrew J. Bacevich, a professor of history and international relations at Boston University, retired from the U.S. Army with the rank of colonel. He is the author of The New American Militarism, among other books. His writing has appeared in Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic Monthly, The Nation, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. He is the recipient of a Lannan award and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.In The Limits of Power, Andrew Bacevich identifies a profound triple crisis facing America: the economy, in remarkable disarray, can no longer be fixed by relying on expansion abroad; the government, transformed by an imperial presidency, is a democracy in form only; United States involvement in endless wars, driven by a deep infatuation with military power, has been a catastrophe for the body politic. These pressing problems threaten all Americans, Republican or Democrat. If the nation is to solve its predicament, Bacevich writes, it will need the revival of a distinctly American approach: the neglected tradition of realism.Bacevich, uniquely respected across the political spectrum, offers a historical perspective on the illusions that have governed American policy since 1945. The realism he proposes includes respect for power and its limits; sensitivity to unintended consequences; aversion to claims of exceptionalism; skepticism of easy solutions, especially those involving force; and a conviction that the books will have to balance. Only a return to such principles, Bacevich argues, can provide common ground for fixing America’s urgent problems before the damage becomes irreparable.“This compact, meaty volume ought to be on the reading list of every candidate for national office in November's elections. In an age of cant and baloney, Andrew Bacevich offers a bracing slap of reality. The Limits of Power is gracefully written and easy to read . . . chockablock with provocative ideas and stern judgments. Bacevich's brand of intellectual assuredness is rare in today's public debates. Many of our talking heads and commentators are cocksure, of course, but few combine confidence with knowledge and deep thought the way Bacevich does here. His big argument is elegant and powerful.”—The Washington Post“This compact, meaty volume ought to be on the reading list of every candidate for national office in November's elections. In an age of cant and baloney, Andrew Bacevich offers a bracing slap of reality. The Limits of Power is gracefully written and easy to read . . . chockablock with provocative ideas and stern judgments. Bacevich's brand of intellectual assuredness is rare in today's public debates. Many of our talking heads and commentators are cocksure, of course, but few combine confidence with knowledge and deep thought the way Bacevich does here. His big argument is elegant and powerful.”—The Washington Post“Strongly felt and elegantly written . . . The Limits of Power is painfully clear-sighted and refreshingly uncontaminated by the conventional wisdom of Washington, D.C.”—The Economist"Andrew Bacevich is a devoted disciple of Niebuhr, and his latest book is very much in the Niebuhrian spirit, which he applies with great skill and originality to the problems, mostly of our own making, that now beset the United States . . . Bacevich's style is compounded of military clarity, great eloquence, and invigorating overtones of Oliver Cromwell, Savonarola, and other inspired reformers. His book is highly readable and enormously worth reading."—Brian Urquhart, The New York Review of Books"Andrew Bacevich is the real deal: Professor of Military History at Boston University, author of many well-respected books, a West Point graduate, conservative Catholic and Vietnam War veteran, he is an expert at war from its bloody, messy grass roots to its ethereal heights of grand strategic debate. And in the internal chaos of America’s pundit’s paradise of self-important, confident, ignorant talking heads, Mr. Bacevich has been a quiet, cool voice of sanity for decades with his spare, rigorous and unfailing honest analyses of America's role in the world and deepening strategic predicaments. This latest work, however, stands apart: Even the timing of its publication is uncanny. Mr. Bacevich in his text, obviously written many months before our current fiscal meltdown erupted, even anticipates a Wall Street financial crisis on the scale of 1929 and what that would mean to the fantasies of global suzerainty and empire that U.S. policymakers have remained obsessed upon. The Limits of Power certainly stands tall in the rapidly growing tradition of serious intellectual criticism of unlimited U.S. military and political engagement around the world that has especially proliferated since the war in Iraq started to go sour five years ago. But it also joins the by-now bulging bookshelves of devastating indictments of the Bush administration and what they have done wrong in Iraq and Afghanistan, leaving effectively unwinnable wars and nightmarish withdrawal scenarios for their successors to deal with . . . [Bachevich] traces the burgeoning powers of the Imperial Presidency that were only briefly and superficially reined in after the setbacks of Vietnam and Watergate, reviving to expand more relentlessly than ever in the decades that followed. He documents how the heady rhetoric of American exceptionalism, virtue and divine approval led smoothly into the Bush-neoconservative vision of remaking the Islamic world in America's own, virtuous, democratic and free market image, undeterred by the mountains of evidence that such a project was impossible and utterly divorced from any sane conception of reality. Finally, Mr. Bacevich remorselessly piles on the evidence why the projects of global empire and the remaking of the world in America's image are destined to fail because they are inherently unachievable. Further, he argues, the pursuit of empire has fatefully weakened the real mainsprings of both freedom and prosperity at home. This has dire implications for the long-term health and possibly even survival of American democracy, Mr. Bacevich argues, because from the very beginning, the success of democracy and political freedom within the United States was predicated on the economic abundance and security necessary to assure it. Nor does Mr. Bacevich hold out much hope from Mr. Bush's successors. He documents repeated statements from Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama that could have been taken out of the Bush speechmaking lexicon at random—and no doubt were. Mr. Bacevich's point, of course, is that just as Mr. Bush was no aberration from an American policymaking norm of strategic over-extension and hubris that was generations in the making, beyond the superficial cosmetics of politics, his successor, be he Mr. Obama or Sen. John McCain, will remain wedded to the same assumptions as well. Taken individually, few of Mr. Bacevich's arguments and documentations in this book are new. But I know of no work that is so compelling and succinct in synthesizing them into a single, overarching and cohesive argument. This book should be essential reading for every National Security Council staffer in the next Washington administration, be it Republican or Democratic. (Having lectured too many audiences of such policymakers over the past three years in various capacities, I have consistently found their levels of knowledge and basic facts about the essential vulnerabilities of the United States to be staggering). In any sane political system, Mr. Bacevich would be immediately recruited to run intelligence and research at the State Department or policymaking at the Pentagon. It is a grim judgment on the lack of integrity or basic competence in our political system that such an appointment from either party remains inconceivable. Mr. Bacevich, however, has appealed above the head of the Permanent Policymaking Class in Washington to bring his arguments and his cool, lucid prescriptions for limited sane policies in international relations, national security and economic affairs to the general public. This book is destined to stand as a lonely classic signpost pointing the way to any future hope of renewed international and political security for the American people."—Martin Sieff, The Washington Times"This compact, meaty volume ought to be on the reading list of every candidate for national office—House, Se...   less