Is “Progressive Realism” Americas Next Foreign Policy?
Joseph S Nye is Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and author, most recently, of Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics. His previous post on Webdiary was Taming North Korea. by Joseph S Nye Polls in the United States show low public approval for President George W. Bush’s handling of foreign policy, but little agreement on what should take its place. The unbridled ambitions of the neo-conservatives and assertive nationalists in his first administration produced a foreign policy that was like a car with an accelerator, but no brakes. It was bound to go off the road. But how should America use its unprecedented power, and what role should values play? Realists warn against letting values determine policy, but democracy and human rights have been an inherent part of American foreign policy for two centuries. The Democratic Party could solve this problem by adopting the suggestion of Robert Wright and others that it pursue “progressive re
