Condoleezza Rice: The Middle East, China, and the Case Against American Isolationism

The world Americans face today is more complicated—and dangerous—than it has been for decades. Yet there is a growing, and in many ways understandable, desire to turn inward—a sense that there is little U.S. foreign policy can do to solve problems abroad and lots it can do to make them worse.

Condoleezza Rice, director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, argues against this impulse in a new essay in Foreign Affairs. Great powers, she writes, don’t get to just mind their own business. 

Rice served as national security adviser and secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration. Much of what she grappled with then—Russia’s invasion of a neighbor, military collisions with China, the last major clash between Israel and Hezbollah—has worrying echoes now, especially as conflict in the Middle East threatens to spiral into a wider war.

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[bwalker]

Still stuck in a 90s/early aughts mindset. She obviously has a strong command of the “what, where, when” but the “how” eludes her. Overly simplistic analysis of the roots of populism and the international trade regimes - saying that China/Russia duplicitousness in using int’l trade as a weapon of statecraft “could not have been” foreseen is extremely disingenuous. Sad to see she has not adjusted her view over the years

[MG-yehu]

To hear Sec. Rice speak sounds like the times when she was in office. Go around the world and tell everybody what to do, and if they don't comply, use force. I think she has not realized sufficiently that the US does not have this ultimate power anymore. The unipolar moment is over. You have to engage in a different kind of politics in this situation, i.e. pick your fights much more carefully.

[Wxys.]

Just one of several brazen lies by Rice to claim Putin never opposed NATO expansion. Not least proven otherwise by now CIA Director W.Burns’s famed report ‘Niet means niet’.
The US foreign policy record since 1991 is nothing short of a calamity. EU expansion aside it is hard to think of a single success story. Contrast that with the cost in blood and treasure expended,
the record is chilling.

[jaimetorres]

If the USA isolates itself, other powers will fill the void. I live in a South American country and China is increasingly active here

[robertseaborne]

An American led neo-liberalism is imploding into a unipolar black hole of it's own making ie; extreme individualism and insecurity. In contrast, a China led neo-socialism is expanding into a more secure multipolar world of partnerships, with BRICS proving to be a more reliable and attractive trading partner, especially throughout the developing world.

[ScottStokes-yd]

Why did President Clinton say no to President Putin application to NATO?

[teeahtate]

She would have had my vote for POTUS because she is qualified and a great communicator.

[TerryHofman]

I could listen to Condi and her brilliant take on big issues all day long 😊

[jessebugz]

I would vote for her for president. Just saying....

[richardsimms]

Fabulous interview with an exceptionally interesting guest.

[starburstsolaris]

Will she guide Trump on foreign affairs?.

[andriytarnovetskyy]

Secretary Rice is certainly one of the smartest and most talented diplomats America has ever had. Thank you very much for your service to our country.

[rodmotor]

I always felt that i had a feel for the extent of Rice's "Nation Building" urges and instincts, but this interview made me realize how much i have underestimated them! The promotion of American bombs vs. Russian "junk" bombs for India, was smooth and impressive.

[williamhtla]

Isolationism is not in the U.S.'s best interest. While it's a secular trend not attached to any particular person, our choice of leader does make a difference in whether we accelerate along that trend or not.

Trump is an isolationist while Harris is not. Many of Dr. Rice's foreign policy peers have publicly endorsed Kamala Harris. For the sake of our country, would Dr. Rice do the same?

[musiqal]

America needs to realize that it's 2024, not 1991, and that the world is multipolar.