America’s new isolationism

FP's own Mike Boyer has an excellent book review in today's Boston Globe on the dangers of too rashly judging America's democracy promotion efforts a massive mistake: [Both James Carroll and Stephen Kinzer] write the history of Iraq as though it has been decided; so decided, in fact, that we can now draw lessons from it ...

FP's own Mike Boyer has an excellent book review in today's Boston Globe on the dangers of too rashly judging America's democracy promotion efforts a massive mistake:

FP's own Mike Boyer has an excellent book review in today's Boston Globe on the dangers of too rashly judging America's democracy promotion efforts a massive mistake:

[Both James Carroll and Stephen Kinzer] write the history of Iraq as though it has been decided; so decided, in fact, that we can now draw lessons from it about America's flawed purpose in the world. There is little question at this stage that history will harshly judge the way the war and postwar in Iraq were planned for and executed. But damning America's commitment to democracy promotion, which runs long and deep, should wait. Last November, I heard the Dalai Lama speak at Stanford University. His Holiness was asked in a question if the Iraq war was wrong. His reply was that it was too early to pass judgment. It was a wise response because it is easy to mistake failures of leadership for failures of purpose.

Carolyn O'Hara is a senior editor at Foreign Policy.

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