America's power is in decline, its foreign policy adrift, its
allies alienated, its soldiers trapped in a war that even generals
regard as unwinnable. What has happened these past eight years is
well known. Why it happened continues to puzzle. In Daydream
Believers, celebrated Slate columnist Fred Kaplan combines in-depth
reporting and razor-sharp analysis to explain just how George W.
Bush and his aides got so far off track--and why much of the nation
followed. Kaplan demonstrates that their disasters stemmed not from
mere incompetence but from two grave misconceptions. First, they
believed that the world changed after 9/11, when it didn't. The
nature of power, warfare, and politics among nations remained the
same, no matter how deeply they wanted to break free from the real
world's constraints. Second, they thought that America emerged from
its Cold War victory stronger than before, when in fact it was
weaker. The disappearance of the Soviet Union brought freedom to
much of the globe. But by the same token, the shattering of their
common enemy gave many of America's allies leave to go their own
way and pursue their own interests, without regard for what
Washington desired.
For eight years, Kaplan reminds us, the White House--and many of
the nation's podiums and opinion pages--rang out with appealing but
deluded claims: that we live in a time like no other and that,
therefore, the lessons of history no longer apply; that new
technology has transformed warfare; that the world's peoples will
be set free, if only America topples their dictators; and that
those who dispute such promises do so for partisan reasons. They
thought they were visionaries, but they only had visions. Andthey
believed in their daydreams.
Kaplan traces the genesis and evolution of these ideas--from the
era of Nixon through Reagan to the present day--and reveals how
they have been either twisted through the years or rebutted as
illusions at every step.
Packed with stunning anecdotes, hidden history, and a level of
insight only Fred Kaplan can bring to issues of national security,
Daydream Believers tells a story whose understanding is central to
getting America back on track and to finding leaders who can
improve the world, and America's position in it, by seeing the
world as it really is.
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