International
Defense and Foreign Policy
At a Glance
Cato’s foreign and defense policies are guided by the view that the United States is relatively secure and so should engage the world, trade freely, and work with other countries on common concerns—but avoid trying to dominate it militarily. The United States should be an example of democracy and human rights, not their armed vindicator abroad. Although that view is largely absent in Washington, DC, today, it has a rich history, from George Washington to Cold War realists like George Kennan. Cato scholars aim to restore it. A principled and restrained foreign policy would keep the nation out of most foreign conflicts and be cheaper, more ethical, and less destructive of civil liberties.
Subscribe to the Defense and Foreign Policy email newsletter
Join the Conversation
Featured Content
Commentary
The Middle East Is a Costly Distraction
By Justin Logan
No American interests are served by our current posture in the region.
Power Problems
Elite Politics & the Hawkish Bias in US Foreign Policy
Featuring Elizabeth N. Saunders and John Glaser
Elite politics shape and constrain democratic leaders in decisions about the use of force and tend to induce a hawkish bias into war‐time foreign policy. So says Columbia University professor Elizabeth N. Saunders in her forthcoming book The Insider’s Game: How Elites Make War and Peace. She explores how elite politics influenced presidential decisions in U.S. wars including Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond. She also discusses the problems of the public’s rational ignorance of foreign policy and the tensions between an elite‐centric foreign policy and democratic values, among other topics.
Commentary
Is the U.S. On the Verge of Another Forever War?
By Jon Hoffman
Time is quickly running out to prevent further carnage in Gaza and a region‐wide war, the ramifications of which will plague the Middle East and undermine U.S. interests for generations.
Commentary
Preparing for the Big One: Should America Battle China over Taiwan?
By Doug Bandow
Washington’s duty is to protect Americans, not Taiwanese, however sympathetic the latter’s cause. The U.S. should firmly rule out military intervention while pursuing other policies designed to dissuade China from loosing the uncertain furies of war.
Commentary
U.S. Middle East Policy Has Failed
By Jon Hoffman
The region is on fire, and Washington is to blame.
Featured Book
The Stupidity of War: American Foreign Policy and the Case for Complacency
It could be said that American foreign policy since 1945 has been one long miscue; most international threats—including during the Cold War—have been substantially exaggerated. The result has been agony and bloviation, unnecessary and costly military interventions that have mostly failed. In this highly readable book, John Mueller argues with wisdom and wit rather than ideology and hyperbole that aversion to international war has had considerable consequences.
Meet Our Experts
Power Problems: Foreign Policy Podcast
Power Problems is a biweekly podcast from the Cato Institute. Host John Glaser offers a skeptical take on U.S. foreign policy and discusses today’s big questions in international security with guests from across the political spectrum. Follow along on social media with #CatoFP.