Foreign Follies: America's New Global Empire (Paperback)

~ Doug Bandow (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The United States once was a traditional republic, remaining aloof from foreign conflicts. Today no problem on earth is exempt from Washington's meddling. The result is an oversize military, perpetual intervention, and consistent conflict. It's time for a new foreign policy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Xulon Press (October 14, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597819883
• ISBN-13: 978-1597819886
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,666,586 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Entirely Appropriate Title, May 3, 2007

By	B. L. Carpenter (Clifton, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Foreign Follies, a collection of Doug Bandow's columns and articles on U.S. foreign policy over the past decade, is an incisive diagnosis of what has gone so terribly wrong with America's position in the world. It is also an even-handed, bipartisan analysis. Bandow criticizes the faulty policies of Democratic and Republican administrations alike. He makes a compelling case that a more cautious, coherent security strategy would better serve the interests of the American people. Over the years, Bandow has shown himself to be one of America's most astute experts on foreign affairs, and it is gratifying to see his prescient analyses gathered in one place. Foreign Follies is a valuable book, and it deserves to have a wide audience.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pulls no punches, March 19, 2007

By	C. V. Pena (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Because of the Iraq fiasco, it is fashionable to blame the Bush administration for being the Ziegfeld of America's foreign policy folly. True enough, Iraq may be the height of U.S. folly -- an unnecessary war against a phantom threat that has given jihadists a convenient target in their own neighborhood, created greater anti-American sentiment throughout the Muslim world, and threatens to break the U.S. Army -- but such folly is not the sole purview of the Bush administration. In Foreign Follies, Doug Bandow has assembled a collection of essays that span more than a decade to demonstrate that U.S. foreign policy run amok pre-dates the current White House, but that the Bush administration has made things worse. Bandow chronicles unnecessary U.S. interventionist policy in Europe, the Balkans, Asia, and the Middle East. Of course, he devotes an entire chapter to Iraq -- the mother of all unnecessary U.S. interventions. Not only does Bandow make the case that U.S. foreign policy -- Bush and Clinton, Republican and Democrat, conservative and liberal -- makes us less safe, but that it undermines the foundations of our republic. The real folly is that Bandow's voice is drowned by the shrill cries of partisan politicians and pundits who place self-interest ahead of the well-being our the country.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not So Foreign Follies, February 22, 2007

By	Greene (Virginia) - See all my reviews

Bandow's work reveals one folly of any critique of US foreign policy is that the addled thinking is not limited to the past few years or the current administration. Drawing on his career of assessing foreign policy across the globe, Bandow showcases his astounding scope of expertise and insight - providing a cohesive point of view that brings sanity to any review of US foreign policy in the past -- and in the future. A must-read for every policy wonk, and every American.