Daydream Believers

Daydream Believers: How a Few Grand Ideas Wrecked American Power by Fred Kaplan

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Daydream Believers, by Kaplan, was a FANTASTIC book. Interesting, well written, and important, Kaplan offers much more than the title led me to believe. Of course, it is another book on the mistakes of the Bush Administration’s foreign policy, particularly regarding Iraq, but the book is grander than that. The best parts: 1) fascinating overview of about a half century of US military strategy (this is what makes the book so strong); 2) necessary look at the totality of the Bush foreign policy, rather than just a focus on Iraq; 3) interesting look at America’s efforts to build a missile defense system; 4) the mistakes of the Democratic Party in failing to offer a realistic alternative to the current Administration’s foreign policy; 5) and a fine statement on the need for a foreign policy that properly balances realism/national interests, with the legitimate pursuit of high minded goals for the world.
If I have to find a bad part, I guess some of the information contained here is a bit redundant after all that has been said by those critiquing the Bush mistakes, particularly on Iraq. But those mistakes need repeating. Not that the repetition will prevent their repeat: we already had Vietnam. Still, it doesn’t hurt to tread over the topic.



View all my reviews.