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The National Interest
Twilight of the Idols
by Christian D. Brose
. . . Friedrich Nietzsche’s goal was to chart a path “beyond good and evil” for his intellectual descendents to follow. With an entirely different purpose, but in much the same manner, the Bush Administration appears resolved to lead the United States (and, for that matter, the rest of the civilized world) beyond Cold War thinking and security architecture—to exactly where, however, no one is quite sure. Bush and his principals have dared to provoke conventional wisdom about interstate relations in light of post-Cold War strategic realities. Those old doctrines, institutions and norms certainly served their historical purpose, but wondering whether they have finally reached their twilight is now necessary, not foolish. Perhaps a new day is indeed dawning; perhaps even the most cherished “truths” of international relations are showing inevitable signs of mortality. But as Nietzsche discovered, and as the Bush Administration is learning, the life of the provocateur—the “Madman” whose insights arrive before their time—is a lonely one. He is hated in the present and only understood much later, if ever or at all. As was the case with Nietzsche’s philosophy, the provocateur can be extremely successful at smashing old idols and winning young, impassioned hearts and minds. But what can he build in their place? If the traditional thinking about international politics now rings hollow, what new alternative that embraces present realities will achieve a comparable amount of enduring stability and broad-based legitimacy? Though the Iraq War appears to have been a success that (temporarily) quieted the chattering doomsayers, the Bush Administration, along with its youthful allies at home and abroad, is now charged with winning the peace. . . .