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A new book from Independent Institute critically analyzes the disastrous status quo of America’s foreign policy establishment … and offers a better way.
After the tragedies of 9/11, the war in Iraq, and the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, Dr. Christopher J. Coyne calls for a desperately needed dose of common sense and outside-the-box thinking … before it’s too late.
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The best time to re-examine American foreign policy would have been decades ago, long before the wars in the Middle East took their toll on the American spirit.
The second-best time is today.
Let’s flash back to 1821, when John Quincy Adams, then Secretary of State, warned Americans of the price they would pay for pursuing a foreign policy of militaristic imperialism.
If Americans went abroad “in search of monsters to destroy,” the country would lose its freedom and spirit. In becoming “dictatress of the world,” he cautioned, America would “no longer be the ruler of her own spirit.”
Now, two centuries later—after untold loss of blood and treasure, a corrupt and sclerotic national security state, and an entrenched, unaccountable, unelected bureaucracy trampling on civil liberties left and right—we reap the evil fruit of Adams’ dark prophecy.
Still, hope remains. The great failures of the US government in the Middle East, and now in Eastern Europe, present a unique opportunity. The curtain has been pulled back on the American empire, and we are offered yet another chance to assess critically its many catastrophes—and to chart a new course.
Economist Christopher J. Coyne, Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute and esteemed foreign policy scholar, explores the history, nature, and limits of military imperialism abroad—as well as its harmful effects at home—in In Search of Monsters to Destroy: The Folly of American Empire and the Paths to Peace.
Drawing on ample evidence from America’s founders, renowned economists such as Friedrich Hayek, and real-world examples that Americans on both sides can agree have been ruinous, Coyne offers a much-needed vision of peace and hope.
Coyne advocates for a practicable, non-isolationist, and most importantly, peaceful alternative to empire. America would be wise to heed his call.
The sooner, the better.
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About the Author
Dr. Christopher J. Coyne is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute and Co-Editor of The Independent Review, professor of economics at George Mason University, Associate Director of the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center, Co-Editor of the Review of Austrian Economics, and Book Review Editor for Public Choice. Dr. Coyne received his Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University.
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Praise for In Search of Monsters to Destroy
“With In Search of Monsters to Destroy, Christopher Coyne offers readers a crisp, concise, and devastating indictment of American imperialism. His provocative proposal for a nonviolent ‘polycentric’ approach to national security comes as a welcome bonus.”
—Andrew J. Bacevich, President and Chairman of the Board, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft; Professor Emeritus of International Relations and History, Boston University
“Why go overseas to slay monsters? Whether it’s corruption and cronyism, bureaucratic pathologies and perverse policies, mechanized terror and murderous militarism, the monsters are right here, America. Luckily for us, in In Search of Monsters to Destroy, Coyne faces them down with courage and clarity. So should we.”
—William J. Astore, Lt. Col., USAF (Ret.), author, Hindenburg: Icon of German Militarism
“Christopher Coyne has long been the leading voice in economics on the folly of American military interventions overseas. In his remarkable new book, In Search of Monsters to Destroy, he gives unpopular but deeply compelling arguments why such interventions are a threat to liberal values both at home and abroad.”
—William R. Easterly, Co-Director, Development Research Institute, New York University
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