Stephen Walt 善意地狱 美国外交政策 与美国主导地位的衰落

善意地狱：美国外交政策精英与美国主导地位的衰落

https://www.amazon.ca/Hell-Good-Intentions-Americas-Foreign/dp/0374280037
作者：斯蒂芬·沃尔特 2018 年 1 月 1 日

《纽约时报》畅销书作家斯蒂芬·沃尔特 (Stephen M. Walt) 的《善意地狱》剖析了美国近期外交政策的错误和缺陷，解释了为什么美国会受到伊拉克和阿富汗“永远的战争”等灾难的困扰，并概述了美国外交政策的哪些问题。 可以修复它。

1992年，美国站在世界强国的顶峰，美国人对和平与繁荣的新时代即将到来充满信心。 二十五年后，这些希望已经破灭。 与俄罗斯和中国的关系恶化，欧盟摇摇欲坠，民族主义和民粹主义抬头，美国陷入代价高昂且毫无意义的战争，这些战争浪费了数万亿美元并削弱了其在世界各地的影响力。

沃尔特认为，这一惨淡记录的根源在于美国外交政策机构对“自由霸权”战略的顽固承诺。 自冷战结束以来，共和党人和民主党人都试图利用美国的力量将民主、开放市场和其他自由主义价值观传播到地球的每一个角落。 这一战略注定要失败，但其在外交政策精英中的支持者却从未被追究责任，并不断重蹈覆辙。

唐纳德·特朗普赢得总统职位，承诺结束外交政策“Blob”的误导性政策，并采取更明智的做法。 但他反复无常、冲动的执政风格，加上对世界政治的深刻理解存在缺陷，正在使本已糟糕的局势变得更糟。 沃尔特认为，最好的选择是回归“离岸平衡”的现实主义战略，避开政权更迭、国家建设和其他形式的全球社会工程。 美国人民肯定会欢迎更加克制的外交政策，允许更多地关注国内问题。 这种迟来的转变需要放弃对自由霸权的徒劳追求，并建立一个对美国实力有更现实看法的外交政策机构。

斯蒂芬·M·沃尔特（Stephen M. Walt）的《善意地狱》清晰、坦率、文笔优美，既对美国最近的外交政策愚蠢行为做出了令人信服的诊断，又为重新取得成功提供了行之有效的公式。

The Hell of Good Intentions: America's Foreign Policy Elite and the Decline of U.S. Primacy 

https://www.amazon.ca/Hell-Good-Intentions-Americas-Foreign/dp/0374280037
by Stephen M. Walt  Jan. 1 2018

From the New York Times–bestselling author Stephen M. Walt, The Hell of Good Intentions dissects the faults and foibles of recent American foreign policy ― explaining why it has been plagued by disasters like the “forever wars” in Iraq and Afghanistan and outlining what can be done to fix it.

In 1992, the United States stood at the pinnacle of world power and Americans were confident that a new era of peace and prosperity was at hand. Twenty-five years later, those hopes have been dashed. Relations with Russia and China have soured, the European Union is wobbling, nationalism and populism are on the rise, and the United States is stuck in costly and pointless wars that have squandered trillions of dollars and undermined its influence around the world.

The root of this dismal record, Walt argues, is the American foreign policy establishment’s stubborn commitment to a strategy of “liberal hegemony.” Since the end of the Cold War, Republicans and Democrats alike have tried to use U.S. power to spread democracy, open markets, and other liberal values into every nook and cranny of the planet. This strategy was doomed to fail, but its proponents in the foreign policy elite were never held accountable and kept repeating the same mistakes.

Donald Trump won the presidency promising to end the misguided policies of the foreign policy “Blob” and to pursue a wiser approach. But his erratic and impulsive style of governing, combined with a deeply flawed understanding of world politics, are making a bad situation worse. The best alternative, Walt argues, is a return to the realist strategy of “offshore balancing,” which eschews regime change, nation-building, and other forms of global social engineering. The American people would surely welcome a more restrained foreign policy, one that allowed greater attention to problems here at home. This long-overdue shift will require abandoning the futile quest for liberal hegemony and building a foreign policy establishment with a more realistic view of American power.

Clear-eyed, candid, and elegantly written, Stephen M. Walt’s The Hell of Good Intentions offers both a compelling diagnosis of America’s recent foreign policy follies and a proven formula for renewed success.