The Spirit of ’56
Visiting Hungary, President Bush has linked the revolt of 1956 with the Iraq War. It's a comparison that will draw howls from some quarters. The Hungarians, after all, revolted all on their own. In fact, those who see the Iraq war as a strategic blunder of the first order may be more tempted to draw a ...
Visiting Hungary, President Bush has linked the revolt of 1956 with the Iraq War. It's a comparison that will draw howls from some quarters. The Hungarians, after all, revolted all on their own. In fact, those who see the Iraq war as a strategic blunder of the first order may be more tempted to draw a parallel with another 1956 crisis--the Suez--when Western powers (Britain and France, in that case) botched an invasion, ostracized allies, and squandered diplomatic capital.
Visiting Hungary, President Bush has linked the revolt of 1956 with the Iraq War. It's a comparison that will draw howls from some quarters. The Hungarians, after all, revolted all on their own. In fact, those who see the Iraq war as a strategic blunder of the first order may be more tempted to draw a parallel with another 1956 crisis–the Suez–when Western powers (Britain and France, in that case) botched an invasion, ostracized allies, and squandered diplomatic capital.
David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist
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