Step Back: Lessons for U.S. Foreign Policy from the Failed War on Terror
"In the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the
United States launched an international war on terrorism defined by
military intervention, nation building, and efforts to reshape the
politics of the Middle East. As of 2017, however, it has become
clear that the American strategy has destabilized the Middle East
while doing little to protect the United States from terrorism.
After 15 years of considerable strategic consistency during the
presidencies of George Bush and Barack Obama, Donald Trump now
takes the reins having promised to “bomb the sh—”
out of ISIS and “defeat them fast.” At the same time,
however, Trump broke sharply in his campaign rhetoric from
Republican orthodoxy on Iraq and Afghanistan. Whatever President
Trump decides to do, an evaluation of the War on Terror should
inform his policies.
We argue that the War on Terror failed. This failure has two
fundamental—and related—sources. The first is the
inflated assessment of the terror threat facing the United States,
which led to an expansive counterterrorism campaign that did not
protect Americans from terrorist attacks. The second source of
failure is the adoption of an aggressive strategy of military
intervention."
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