This episode unpacks the history of 250 years of U.S. foreign policy and examines patterns of the United States’ engagement with the world. Host: James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy, CFR Guest: Robert Kagan, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution; Author, Dangerous Nation: America’s Place in the World From Its Earliest Days to the Dawn of the Twentieth Century and The Ghost at the Feast: America and Collapse of World Order, 1900-1941 We Discuss: Why Robert Kagan argues that Americans misunderstand their own history and have long been a “dangerous nation” rather than an insular one. How American foreign policy debates have always been entangled with domestic politics, and what the polarized fights of the founding era reveal about the true norm of American political life. Which forces have consistently pulled the United States outward, producing an oscillation between intervention and retrenchment. Why the era of American imperialism following the Spanish-American War, including the humanitarian motives behind U.S. intervention in Cuba, is among the most misunderstood chapters of U.S. history Why Americans tend to enter wars with enthusiasm only to sour on them afterward. Whether the United States is forgetting the lessons of the postwar order. What the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence should teach Americans about the fragility of liberal democracy. Mentioned on the Episode: Robert Kagan, Dangerous Nation: America’s Place in the World From Its Earliest Days to the Dawn of the Twentieth Century, Knopf Robert Kagan, The Ghost at the Feast: America and the Collapse of World Order, 1900–1941, Knopf Robert Kagan, The Jungle Grows Back: America and Our Imperiled World, Knopf Walter Lippmann, U.S. Foreign Policy: Shield of the Republic, Little, Brown Norman Angell, The Great Illusion, G.P. Putnam’s Sons Francis Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man, Free Press James A. Field Jr., “American Imperialism: The Worst Chapter in Almost Any Book,” American Historical Review “Declaration of Independence,” National Archives George Washington, “Farewell Address,” 1796 For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/lessons-from-250-years-of-us-foreign-policy Opinions expressed on The President’s Inbox are solely those of the host or guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.
