The American Spectator

“The alternative to the role the United States plays in the world is not better global governance, but less of it — and that would make the world a far more dangerous and less prosperous place. Never in human history has one country done so much for so many others, and received so little appreciation for its efforts.”

Due to the troubles in Iraq (or the media’s portrayal of them anyway) and recent Palestinian elections, democracy-promotion has become less and less popular with Americans. Nor has the U.S. had a great record at nation-building or humanitarian intervention (think Somalia, Haiti). As a result more and more Americans are growing weary of playing global governor and being mocked and despised for their pains. Ultimately the American masses will be the arbiter of the United States’ foreign policy, and with the looming retirement crisis Mandelbaum predicts the public will demand its money remain at home. “Social Security and Medicare, not the rise of China, pose the greatest threat to America’s role as the world’s government.” It is this attitude, not some barbarian invasion or interior decadence, that will cause America to withdraw from the world stage. And once that happens America’s foreign critics will long for the good old days of the “American Empire.”

Mandelbaum sums up the prospect of a reduced international presence succinctly: “They will not pay for it; they will continue to criticize it; and they will miss it when it is gone.” On the other hand, a few terrorist attacks could find the American people restructuring their priorities yet again.