When it comes to America’s role in the world, however, it becomes difficult to profess even modest optimism. If Biden clings to a calcified and militarized conception of national security — as he appears intent on doing — he will put his entire presidency at risk. Rather than restoring American primacy, he will accelerate American decline…The American experiment in dictating the course of history has reached a dead end.

Harkening back to where the nation was when I received my commission in 1969, I’m struck today by how little we Americans learned from our Vietnam misadventure. Pain did not translate into wisdom. That we have learned even less from our various armed conflicts since appears only too obvious. When it comes to war, Americans remain willfully and incorrigibly ignorant. We have paid dearly for that ignorance and will likely pay even more in the years ahead.

This is an excerpt from an article written by Andrew Bacevich, republished from CounterPunch 29 June 2021. Click here to read the original article in its entirety.

Andrew J. Bacevich Jr is an American historian specializing in international relations, security studies, American foreign policy, and American diplomatic and military history.