What the U.S. Got Wrong in the War on Terrorism

This episode unpacks how the September 11 attacks reshaped the U.S. approach to global threats and internal security.

Host:

James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy, CFR

Guest:

Walter Russell Mead, Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship, Hudson Institute

We Discuss:

Why the September 11 attacks were such a pivotal moment in the history of U.S. foreign policy, and how they are understood by those who lived through them in comparison to younger Americans.

How the attacks shattered a post-Cold War sense in the United States that “history had ended,” with the world moving inevitably toward greater freedom and prosperity.

Whether the "Global War on Terrorism" reflected the idiosyncrasies of the Bush administration, or something more fundamental about how the United States responds to attacks.

How the Bush response to 9/11 compares to Franklin D. Roosevelt's response to Pearl Harbor.

Why the United States found it so hard to leave Afghanistan and Iraq, and how mission creep turned those military campaigns into open-ended nation-building projects.

How "liberal fundamentalism" shaped an overconfident belief that American values could be easily applied to other, complicated societies.