How America wasted its unipolar moment
The war on terror improved neither the nation’s standing nor the nation itself
WHEN, IN 1998, President Bill Clinton fired cruise missiles at terrorist bases in Afghanistan and Sudan, a reporter asked the secretary of defence if there wasn’t a “striking resemblance” to the plot of “Wag the Dog”, a film in which a White House consultant confects a faraway war to distract from a presidential sex scandal. Popular culture and sex scandals loomed large in American society during the 1990s; foreign affairs did not. Abroad was where the impediments to Ross and Rachel’s predestined coupledom came from in “Friends”.
This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Uncontained”
Briefing September 11th 2021
From the September 11th 2021 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Has the war in Gaza radicalised young Palestinians?
After Gaza, how will the Palestinians try to build their state?
A year on, Israeli society is divided about the lessons of October 7th
Hawks and doves, religious and secular, right and left—all the old cleavages are resurfacing
The bloodshed in the Middle East is fast expanding
Israel seems certain to retaliate to Iran’s missile attack
What Hamas misunderstood about the Middle East
A war meant to draw in the militant group’s allies has instead left them battered
After the decapitation of Hizbullah, Iran could race for a nuclear bomb
The embattled clerical regime might feel the need for stronger deterrence
Ukraine is on the defensive, militarily, economically and diplomatically
Russian advances, fatigue among its allies and political divisions at home leave it in a bind