| Any successful grand strategy for 21st Century America must ensure that the nation's resources are prioritized and its commitments not over-extended. Our curated content for this week continues our focus on how some of our finest foreign policy minds have proposed to reassess America's foreign policy commitments. We especially recommend Dan Caldwell's piece making the case for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq. For a similar case reinforcing President Trump's announced intention to withdraw troops from Afghanstan, readers will profit greatly from John Richard Cookson's piece. The news concerning troop withdrawal is not limited to the Middle-East. On the president's recent orders of large troop withdrawals from Germany, see Daniel DePetris' piece in Newsweek, as well as Ted Galen Carpenter's piece. Carpenter argues that, given the collapse of the USSR, there is no longer a compelling purpose for the USA to maintain such a heavy troop presence in Germany. Doug Bandow's piece takes the argument further and calls for troop withdawals from all NATO countries. Finally, successful withdrawl and correction of overextension must also address the moral framework which supported interventionist commitments in the first place. Addressing this issue, we recommend Daniel Larison's piece interrogating the moral rhetoric deployed by interventionists. Original Posts Richard Hanania, RealClearDefense The Thucydides Trap is among the most well-known concepts in international relations. Recently, discussions about the rise of China have invoked the phrase, arguing that the nation's... Essential Reading Renanah Miles Joyce, Brian Blankenship, Cato Institute Bottom Line: Conventional logic holds that targeted U.S. military spending is an effective way to support the military, improve global economic conditions, and achieve foreign policy... In the News Emma Ashford & Matthew Kroenig, Foreign Policy Kelley Beaucar Vlahos, American Conservative Paul Pillar, Responsible Statecraft Matt Abbott, Responsible Statecraft Doug Bandow, American Conservative Ivan Eland, American Conservative John Richard Cookson, National Interest Dan Caldwell, American Conservative Bonnie Kristian, Reason Benjamin H. Friedman, Responsible Statecraft Jeanne Morefield & Patrick Porter, New Statesman Doug Bandow, Responsible Statecraft Ted Galen Carpenter, National Interest Daniel DePetris, Newsweek Mark Fitzpatrick, Responsible Statecraft Empire Has No Clothes This week on Empire Has No Clothes, we talked with Dan Nexon and Alexander Cooley about their new book, Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order, and the direction of U.S. foreign policy in a post-hegemony world. Net Assessment Chris, Zack, and Melanie get together to talk about former Secretary of Defense Bob Gates’s Foreign Affairs article, “The United States Must Recover the Full Range of Its Power.” Against the backdrop of domestic and worldwide protests spurred by the murder of George Floyd, they ask whether we rely too much on the military to carry out America’s foreign policy goals. If so, why? Quincy Institute The War on Terrorism has not stopped terrorism; it may have even fueled it in an effort to stop attacks against the United States. 19 years on, our overseas military commitments are way out of proportion to any damage that terrorists can inflict on Americans. But the Quincy Institute's latest report has a few ideas for how to wind it down, with the goal of making us safer. Inside Story, Al Jazeera United States military forces stationed in Germany are reportedly going to be significantly reduced. Why is this move coming now and should US allies and NATO be concerned? Andrew Bacevich, Ulrich Brueckner, Pavel Felgenhauer discuss with Laura Brennan Empire Has No Clothes On this edition of Empire Has No Clothes, Matt, Kelley, and Daniel speak to Congressman Warren Davidson, Republican of Ohio, and one of the foremost advocates of constitutional war powers in the House. He tells us why Congress so willingly surrendered its authority to declare war to the president and whether they can ever claw it back. | 
