Here are two brief essays that might help in thinking about the impact of the mid-term elections on American foreign policy:
- First, Andrew C. Bacevich, author of The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War, notes that the debate over "who lost Iraq" has begun and that this debate might actually be a good thing for the nation.
- Second, Ivo Daalder of the Brookings Institution suggests that the Democrats' victory constitutes "a vote of no confidence" in the Bush administration's foreign policy. What must happen now, Daalder says, is that there must be "a clear and unambiguous commitment to disengage from the conflict" in Iraq and an effort to "restore the world's trust in America," starting with a commitment to "behave in ways that are consistent with [American] ideals."