Dean Acheson Articles

We Bow to the God Bipartisanship

Bipartisanship: the Holy Grail of American politics. Long the go-to buzzword for presidents, elusive cross-aisle support at home has all too often been purchased at the price of good policy abroad.

Nuclear Abolition, A Reverie

The hope that we might one day rid the world of nuclear weapons is as old as the technology itself. Atomic destruction has always seemed too great a risk to bear. Yet a nuclear-free world is nothing but a dream—world government, a Praetorian Guard

The Perilous Punditocracy

A look at the absurd pronouncements of the political class from Salon’s Glenn Greenwald. Why do pundits get to be wrong all the time? From the May/June 2008 issue of The National Interest.

Walking with the Devil

The United States must avoid getting trapped in its commitments with unstable regimes, and Iraq is the prime example.

UN, Rediscovered

The UN is flawed, but the United States can learn to use it better—as long as we hold reasonable expectations.

The Ethics of Realism

Hans Morgenthau and Reinhold Niebuhr--the fathers of American realism--understood that good intentions do not excuse failure.

Containing Europe

America and Europe compete to influence the international system. The U.S. response should be a new formulation of an old strategy.

Follow The National Interest

May 26, 2012