How America wasted its unipolar moment
The war on terror improved neither the nation’s standing nor the nation itself
WHEN, IN 1998, President Bill Clinton fired cruise missiles at terrorist bases in Afghanistan and Sudan, a reporter asked the secretary of defence if there wasn’t a “striking resemblance” to the plot of “Wag the Dog”, a film in which a White House consultant confects a faraway war to distract from a presidential sex scandal. Popular culture and sex scandals loomed large in American society during the 1990s; foreign affairs did not. Abroad was where the impediments to Ross and Rachel’s predestined coupledom came from in “Friends”.
This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Uncontained”
From the September 9th 2021 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Briefing
Talent is scarce. Yet many countries spurn it
There is growing competition for the best and the brightest migrants
America’s “left-behind” are doing better than ever
But manufacturing jobs are still in decline
Swing-state economies are doing just fine
They would be doing even better if the Biden-Harris administration had been more cynical
Can Kamala Harris win on the economy?
A visit to a crucial swing state reveals the problems she will face
Chinese firms are growing rapidly in the global south
Western firms beware
A shift in the media business is changing what it is to be a sports fan
Team loyalty is being replaced by “fluid fandom”