Even before the Bush Administration, US Foreign Policy has been moving away from a realist perspective.   

Both the Clinton Doctrine of “Humanitarian Intervention”, and the Bush Doctrine of “Preventative War” are more ideological than realist.

While the ideologies are radically different—one is Neo-Liberal, one is Neo-Conservative—they have not succeeded in stopping genocide in Rwanda, Bosnia or Darfur, nor have they succeeded in reducing the malignancy of interntional terrorism. 

At the same time, the US spends more each year on its military budget—at more than half-a-trillion-dollars, more than the rest of the world combined—

The next President will have to confront a shambling position in the world and prevent the US from becoming even more impotent at protecting its vital interests. So what’s the plan?

Barry Posen—Director of the MIT Security Studies Program—has outlined a foreign policy for the next president. It’s called “The Case for Restraint”