America Entangled: The Persian Gulf Crisis and Its Consequences

Description

The U.S.-led coalition's decisive victory over Iraq has led to virtual euphoria in some circles. Various officials and pundits are insisting that the outcome of the war demonstrates that the United States is the sole remaining superpower and can police the international system to prevent other outbreaks of aggression. (That position is exemplified by syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer's "uni polar" thesis.) The "Vietnam syndrome" is dead, they proclaim, and opponents of President Bush's Persian Gulf intervention have been discredited. Indeed, portions of the foreign policy community are experiencing an intoxication of power the like of which has not been seen since the victory over the Axis nations in 1945-a growing belief that the United States is at the threshold of the "second American century" and can remake the world in its own image. Some experts are already confident that the United States will bring democracy to Iraq, solve the long-standing problems of the Middle East, and resolve the deep-rooted conflicts of the region. ISBN:9780932790859