THOSE WHO hoped that the Democrats' victory in November would launch a major foreign policy debate are disappointed. Setting aside the immediate issue of Iraq, which obviously requires the nation's attention, neither presidential candidates nor the Congress nor the media have shown much interest in a serious conversation about the direction of U.S. foreign policy. A majority of legislators and opinion leaders act as if Iraq were an isolated mistake resulting from the peculiar naivety and incompetence of the Bush Administration rather than the logical progression of the country's post-Cold War foreign policy.
Indeed, with the exception of Iraq-where they have demonstrated more indignation and impatience than creative thinking-Democrats in both Congress and academe have displayed little inclination, nor have many of their Republican colleagues, to question the fundamental assumptions of American foreign policy since the Soviet collapse.
Lou Dobbs has asked rhetorically, "Is there not one decent, honest man or woman in either the House of Representatives or the Senate, in either party's leadership, who possesses the courage and the honesty to say, ‘Enough. The people who elected us deserve better'? So far the answer is no." I assume that even Mr. Dobbs himself would admit to rhetorical exaggeration in this sweeping indictment, but it is no exaggeration to say that unless we do better-much better-as a body politic, the United States will not be able to develop an effective foreign policy. And without an effective foreign policy, America could face potentially devastating consequences at home and abroad.
