{"id":119285,"date":"2017-12-08T09:30:31","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T17:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=119285"},"modified":"2017-12-08T09:31:07","modified_gmt":"2017-12-08T17:31:07","slug":"the-case-for-off-shore-balancing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=119285","title":{"rendered":"The Case For Off-Shore Balancing"},"content":{"rendered":"

John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt wrote in 2016<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Americans\u2019 distaste for the prevailing grand strategy should come
\nas no surprise, given its abysmal record over the past quarter century.
\nIn Asia, India, Pakistan, and North Korea are expanding their nuclear
\narsenals, and China is challenging the status quo in regional waters. In
\nEurope, Russia has annexed Crimea, and U.S. relations with Moscow
\nhave sunk to new lows since the Cold War. U.S. forces are still fighting
\nin Afghanistan and Iraq, with no victory in sight. Despite losing
\nmost of its original leaders, al Qaeda has metastasized across the region.
\nThe Arab world has fallen into turmoil\u2014in good part due to the
\nUnited States\u2019 decisions to effect regime change in Iraq and Libya and
\nits modest efforts to do the same in Syria\u2014and the Islamic State, or
\nisis, has emerged out of the chaos. Repeated U.S. attempts to broker
\nIsraeli-Palestinian peace have failed, leaving a two-state solution further
\naway than ever. Meanwhile, democracy has been in retreat worldwide, and the
\nUnited States\u2019 use of torture, targeted killings, and other morally dubious practices
\nhas tarnished its image as a defender of human rights and international law.<\/p>\n

The United States does not bear sole responsibility for
\nall these costly debacles, but it has had a hand in most of them. The
\nsetbacks are the natural consequence of the misguided grand strategy
\nof liberal hegemony that Democrats and Republicans have pursued
\nfor years. This approach holds that the United States must use its
\npower not only to solve global problems but also to promote a world
\norder based on international institutions, representative governments,
\nopen markets, and respect for human rights. As \u201cthe indispensable
\nnation,\u201d the logic goes, the United States has the right, responsibility,
\nand wisdom to manage local politics almost everywhere. At its core,
\nliberal hegemony is a revisionist grand strategy: instead of calling on
\nthe United States to merely uphold the balance of power in key regions,
\nit commits American might to promoting democracy everywhere and
\ndefending human rights whenever they are threatened. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt wrote in 2016: Americans\u2019 distaste for the prevailing grand strategy should come as no surprise, given its abysmal record over the past quarter century. In Asia, India, Pakistan, and North Korea are expanding their … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29698],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-john-j-mearsheimer"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t