The Foreign Service Journal, November 2009

64 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 9 ian think-tank instinctively wary of “big government” solutions—and coercive, interventionist diplomacy, in particular — such hubris highlights the crucial challenge facing American policymak- ers today. To see the full extent of the prob- lem, recall the wisdom of President Dwight Eisenhower’s warning half a century ago that America must beware of the perils posed by the “military-in- dustrial complex.” Then compare that with the delusional unipolarity and ag- gressive unilateralism of the group James Mann profiled as “the Vulcans,” the neoconservative elite once gathered around Vice President Dick Cheney. The Vulcans, of course, produced the infamous first draft of the so-called Defense Planning Guidance during the George H.W. Bush administration in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War. That document “stipulated that the U.S. would be the global hegemon ... and would stand prepared to act — pre-emptively, if necessary.” As the author documents, Republi- cans and Democrats alike continue to believe in America’s duty to serve as “the linchpin of the international order,” even though this role requires “the forward deployment of the U.S. military to the four corners of the globe.” That impulse continues to this day in the Obama administration, which seems ready to double down on Bush’s commitments in Afghanistan instead of offering a cool reappraisal of our mis- sion there — one that might stress a limited national self-interest instead of preparations for another “surge.” Just for the record, Preble is any- thing but anti-military. (In fact, he is a former commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy.) But he believes that con- serving our armed forces for when they are really neededmeans accepting lim- its on their use otherwise. That is one reason he has been resolutely critical of our whole Iraq misadventure from the beginning. Witness his earlier book , Exiting Iraq: Why the U.S. Must End the Military Occupation and Renew the War against al-Qaida (Cato Institute, 2004). Preble’s advice, like Pres. Eisen- hower’s 50 years ago, should be pon- dered by the entire U.S. national secur- ity team, poised as it is to take fateful steps to increase our military commit- ment in Afghanistan. ■ David Hoffman is a political and pub- lic policy consultant who has worked with the Nuclear Policy Research Insti- tute, the Howard Dean presidential campaign and James Webb’s senatorial campaign. He was also a senior leg- islative assistant to Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass. B O O K S Preble believes that conserving our armed forces for when they are really needed means accepting limits on their use otherwise.