Stephen M. Walt, professor of international affairs at Harvard University and co-author of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, discusses his article “When did the American empire start to decline;” locating the peak of US global dominance during the first Gulf War rout of Iraqi forces, following the Soviet collapse and “unipolar moment;” the big mistakes and missed opportunities that have degraded US power since then; the Clinton administration’s failed dual-containment policy on Iran and Iraq, intended to get Israel more interested in the Oslo Accords but instead creating blowback and eventually 9/11; Walt’s belief in the wise projection of power and self-inclusion in the foreign policy “realist” camp; and why a delayed Israel/Palestine resolution is bad for Arab states, the US and Israel.
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