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"When US Foreign Policy Went Wrong" by Charli Carpenter

Professor Charli Carpenter is featured this week in the 50th Anniversary issue of Foreign Policy. Her article, "When US Foreign Policy Went Wrong," analyses the worst foreign policy ideas of the past 50 years and offers an analytical blueprint for evaluating foreign policy. Citing numerous political science studies including those of UMass Political Science professors Paul Musgrave and Meredith Loken, she argues that "perhaps the very worst U.S. foreign-policy idea of the past 50 years has been the abandonment of the myriad good ideas America once fought for—and the institutions that promote them." In a live webinar @ Foreign Policy magazine with Dan Drezner this week on the future of foreign policy, Carpenter also provided views on the events at the Capitol on January 6. "It's right to be unsettled, this was a sacred civic temple being invaded, but I think what we saw was also very heartening: bipartisan repudiation of this behavior instantly, electoral votes were counted, instigators were sanctioned including the President. I would argue our institutions are surprisingly resilient and we may be witnessing the birth pangs of a more perfect union that many of us aspire to." (Foreign Policy, 1/14/2021; Foreign Policy Worst Ideas Past 50 Years)

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