How America wasted its unipolar moment
The war on terror improved neither the nation’s standing nor the nation itself
WHEN, IN 1998, President Bill Clinton fired cruise missiles at terrorist bases in Afghanistan and Sudan, a reporter asked the secretary of defence if there wasn’t a “striking resemblance” to the plot of “Wag the Dog”, a film in which a White House consultant confects a faraway war to distract from a presidential sex scandal. Popular culture and sex scandals loomed large in American society during the 1990s; foreign affairs did not. Abroad was where the impediments to Ross and Rachel’s predestined coupledom came from in “Friends”.
This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Uncontained”
Briefing
September 11th 2021
From the September 11th 2021 edition
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The obscure Senate functionary whose word is law
Elizabeth MacDonough does more to shape legislation than most congressmen
The big beautiful bill reveals the hollowness of Trumponomics
Republicans mark America’s birthday with a profligate but insubstantial law
The war in Ukraine shows the West can re-arm without re-industrialising
Industrial capacity in peacetime is no longer necessary for success during war
How much did America’s bombs damage Iran’s nuclear programme?
Assessments vary wildly and it is impossible to know for sure
Israel’s war with Iran is over
But its impact is uncertain
Israel’s blitz on Iran is fraught with uncertainty
Much hinges on the stubborn supreme leader and America’s mercurial president