The United States in the Middle East: An Exercise in Self-Defeat

In his book Diplomacy, Henry Kissinger contends that while Europe’s foreign policy has been characterized by the pursuit of calculated strategic interests, realpolitik, and the attempt to stabilize a balance of power, American foreign policy has generally been characterized by idealism. According to Kissinger, the American approach holds that conflicts stem from misunderstandings that can be clarified or from injustices that can be corrected, and not from a clash of basic interests. The general assumption is that respective parties share a common desire to live harmoniously, and that if only we reach out, meet, understand the other, and demonstrate good will, everything can be ironed out.