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Is America Overextending Itself?

The case for U.S. restraint in Ukraine, Taiwan, and beyond.

By , the editor in chief of Foreign Policy.
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The Taiwanese navy launches a U.S.-made missile

Exactly a year after the United States withdrew its forces from Afghanistan—ending its longest war—Washington is once again playing an important role in two major arenas. The first is Ukraine, where continued U.S. military support maintains Kyiv’s chances of repelling Moscow’s advances. The second is more of a cold war, in which the United States is increasingly focused on containing China’s rise and influence. How should America conduct its foreign policy in this new environment? The classic debate in international relations tends to pit hawks against doves—in other words, a debate over whether to conduct a more muscular and proactive policy, or a more restrained one that shuns long-term entanglements. As part of FP Live, Foreign Policy’s forum for live journalism, I spoke with the historian Stephen Wertheim last week, who makes the case for American restraint. Wertheim is a senior fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the author of Tomorrow, the World: The Birth of U.S. Global Supremacy. Foreign Policy subscribers can watch the full discussion here. What follows is an edited and condensed transcript. 

Ravi Agrawal is the editor in chief of Foreign Policy. Twitter: @RaviReports

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Tags: U.S. Foreign Policy, United States, War

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