Heads in the Sand: How the Republicans Screw Up Foreign Policy and Foreign Policy Screws Up the Democrats (Hardcover)

by Matthew Yglesias (Author)
Key Phrases: liberal hawks, liberal world order, United States, Saddam Hussein, Iraq War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Praise for Heads In the Sand

"A very serious, thoughtful argument that has never been made in such detail or with such care."
—Ezra Klein, staff writer at The American Prospect

"Matt Yglesias is one of the smartest voices in the blogosphere. He knows a lot about politics, a lot about foreign policy, and, crucially, is unusually shrewd in understanding how they interact. Here's hoping that his new book will introduce him to an even wider audience. Once you discover him, you'll be hooked."
—E. J. Dionne, author of Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics After the Religious Right and Why Americans Hate Politics

"Matthew Yglesias is one of a handful of bloggers that I make a point of reading every day. Heads in the Sand is a smart, vital book that urges Democrats to stop evading the foreign-policy debate and to embrace the old principles of international liberalism--to be right and also to win."
—Fred Kaplan, author of Daydream Believers: How a Few Grand Ideas Wrecked American Power

"Reading foreign policy tomes is seldom included among life's pleasures, but Yglesias has concocted a startling exception. Heads in the Sand is not just a razor-sharp analysis cum narrative of the politics of national security in general and the Iraq war in particular, it's also an enthralling and often very funny piece of writing. Though he administers strong antidotes to the haplessness of his fellow Democrats and liberals, there's more than a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down."
—Hendrik Hertzberg, Senior Editor, The New Yorker, and author of Politics: Observations and Arguments

Fast-rising political commentator Matthew Yglesias reveals the wrong-headed foreign policy stance of conservatives, neocons, and the Republican Party for what it is—aggressive nationalism. Writing with wit, passion, and keen insight, Yglesias reminds us of the rich tradition of liberal internationalism that, developed by Democrats, was used with great success by both Democratic and Republican administrations for more than fifty years. He provides a starting point for politicians, policymakers, pundits, and citizens alike to return America to its role as leader of a peace-loving and cooperative international community.

From the Inside Flap

Heads In the Sand

Matthew Yglesias

When mainstream Democratic politicians talk about Iraq, why do they sound more like Republicans than like the actual Democratic citizens they claim to represent? Are they simply ducking for cover from the with-us-or-against-us Republican onslaught? Are Democrats actually buying into the right wing's dark, pessimistic vision of endless conflict combined with blinkered optimism about the boundless utility of military force? Has the liberal tradition failed to provide useful principles on which to build and conduct foreign policy?

In Heads in the Sand, fast-rising political observer and commentator Matthew Yglesias reveals the wrong-headed foreign policy stance of conservatives, neocons, and the Republican Party for what it is—aggressive nationalism, or, to be impolite, a new version of old-fashioned imperialism. He then examines how Democrats and progressives have responded to the conservative agenda, from mistakenly labeling it isolationism to repeated calls for big, bold, new ideas and the failure to actually produce any.

Writing with wit, passion, and keen insight, Yglesias reminds us of the rich tradition of liberal internationalism that, developed by Democrats, was used with great success by both Democratic and Republican administrations for more than fifty years. It was, in fact, the foreign policy strategy that revived Europe after World War II, established the United Nations, and won the Cold War.

Based on the principle of promoting global order through international law and stable institutions, liberal internationalism is far from perfect and not nearly sexy enough to appeal to chest-thumping hawks. But, as Yglesias demonstrates, exercised with patience, flexibility, and restraint by nine American presidents, it has produced more peace, prosperity, and international harmony than any other approach. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, it's the worst form of foreign policy, except for all the others.

The forces opposed to liberal internationalism, however, are large and growing. And, Yglesias reveals, they're not all on the far right. He presents a startling revelation of how many moderates, liberals, and even far-left progressives seem more than happy to use America's military might to accomplish their objectives.

While Democrats have come unmoored from their foreign-policy principles for multiple and complex reasons, Matthew Yglesias makes it clear that the path to redemption is open, if not always pothole-free. Americans no longer support reckless Republican policies and the time is ripe—not for a new direction, but for the return of a tried-and-true direction. With Heads in the Sand, he provides a starting point for politicians, policymakers, pundits, and citizens alike to return America to its role as leader of a peace-loving and cooperative international community.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (April 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047008622X
• ISBN-13: 978-0470086223
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #100,564 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-argued, excellent book, April 12, 2008

By	Tyler Cowen (Fairfax, VA United States) - See all my reviews

Everyone who reads books on foreign policy should read this book. It is well-argued throughout and gets at fundamentals, rather than just slinging the latest epithets over our latest blunders in Iraq. I don't in every way agree with the author's recipe for liberal internationalism but overall this is a smarter book than whichever other tome you are likely to pick up on foreign policy.

Tyler Cowen

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, April 14, 2008

By	Matt Berman - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is definitely both highly readable and filled with great insights and ideas into liberal foreign policy. But, rather than put all of your trust in a reviewer you don't know, check out Matthew Yglesias' blog at The Atlantic for a more accurate idea of what the book is like. His blog, like his book, has some of the best political writing around, and is well worth checking out.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book., April 29, 2008

By	C. Mealy (Seattle) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Republicans always win foreign policy debates because Democrats don't even try. Democrats will keep losing until they participate. That's what Yglesias says and he's completely convincing and even entertaining.

Yglesias smartly avoids making a specific foreign policy prescription, other than to follow the general internationalist approach that succeeded from Truman though Clinton. It's not so much that Democrats need to march in lockstep, it's just that they should stop running away. But I'll make my pitch for republican security theory, the idea that security means avoiding the extremes of anarchy and hierarchy. In practice it's pretty much the best of liberal internationalism and the small part of realism that makes sense, but the great thing about it is that it ties together approaches from antiquity to America's founding and all the way to the present.

Lind's The American Way of War: A History of United States Military Strategy and Policy is a good read and I think an expression republican security theory.

Deudney's Bounding Power: Republican Security Theory from the Polis to the Global Village is a tough read, but absolutely worth it.