This book had a lot of promise. If O’Brien had taken a more serious look at Obama’s engagement with the world—explaining why he thought it was wrong instead of presupposing it was—it could have been great. Still, this book can serve as an interesting read for people on the Hill, historians, and foreign policy partisans. Its great contribution is the exposition of political differences in foreign policy, but it will not help solve many of the world’s problems.
Duty and Perseverance
Duty and perseverance are necessary traits for all kinds of leaders—civilian and military alike—but older notions will only lead to further peril. Henceforth, “duty” should be seen as “getting the job done right” and “perseverance” should be “pushing forward as long as it works...and, if not, go back and try again.” These are categorically better than today’s notions of “just do the job” (duty) and “pushing forward regardless” (perseverance).
Crimea: It’s About U.S. Power
The United States has a choice that the Crimean case illustrates very clearly: the U.S. can help shape this new world, or it can continue to be shaped by it. Based on the debate and news that the White House has not asked for any military options in Crimea, it looks like the latter is coming true (although, it should be said, there are some interesting non-military options, too). In the end, the endless debate about Crimea is truthfully not about its future, but about the decline of U.S. power. The United States only has its postwar self and current self to blame.