The Broken Policy Promises of W. Bush, Clinton, and Obama

And why, from the Persian Gulf to Iraq to Syria, Americans haven't gotten — and won't be getting — the foreign policy they want.

What do Americans want from the country's foreign policy? The same things that most countries want: security first and foremost, followed by prosperity, and (if possible) the sense that the country is advancing desirable political or moral values. Some Americans also think it's nice if the United States wins a lot of medals at the Olympics, enjoys a certain status as "leader of the free world," and even stages a few spectacular symbolic events like landing a live human on the moon. But mostly they want to be safe, reasonably comfortable, and to believe their country is on the side of the angels. But as I look back at the last three presidential administrations and I contemplate the utterly bizarre campaign that is going on before our disbelieving eyes, what strikes me is how each of the three post–Cold War presidents failed to give the American people the foreign policy that they promised when they ran for office. In each case, in fact, the candidate promised a more restrained, sensible — dare I say "realist"? — foreign policy, and in each case they delivered an overly ambitious, decidedly unrealistic, and largely unsuccessful product....

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