I was impressed with Bessner's previous appearances on the Glenn Show. It's very disappointing to discover how warped his view of the Cold War is. I agree that US power has often been misused its power and I'd like to see less foreign intervention. OTOH, I find it bizarre that he thinks the US did more damage than the USSR, which had an explicit goal of spreading socialism across the entire world.
Like Bessner, I am skeptical about the proper role of NATO after the fall of the Soviet Union. However, former members of the Warsaw Pact joined NATO to gain protection from Russia, not because they were forced by the US. I agree that Europeans should be more responsible for European security and am happy that Europeans seem to feel that way more in the last few weeks. I think Ukraine shouldn't have given up their nuclear weapons.
Overall, Bessner is right to criticize bad US foreign policy, but has giant blind spots WRT the authoritarian and increasingly totalitarian states of Russia and China. He should be aware of how difficult it would be to criticize them as a citizen vs. criticizing the most powerful state in the history of the world as a citizen. Perhaps it is good that the US does not have the unquestioned dominance it did in 1991. Would things be better if the Chinese Communist Party had influence in every developing nation because of its development projects? Maybe they don't want to export Communism with Chinese Characteristics, but they certainly aren't in favor of liberal values like individual freedom.
I was impressed with Bessner's previous appearances on the Glenn Show. It's very disappointing to discover how warped his view of the Cold War is. I agree that US power has often been misused its power and I'd like to see less foreign intervention. OTOH, I find it bizarre that he thinks the US did more damage than the USSR, which had an explicit goal of spreading socialism across the entire world.
Like Bessner, I am skeptical about the proper role of NATO after the fall of the Soviet Union. However, former members of the Warsaw Pact joined NATO to gain protection from Russia, not because they were forced by the US. I agree that Europeans should be more responsible for European security and am happy that Europeans seem to feel that way more in the last few weeks. I think Ukraine shouldn't have given up their nuclear weapons.
Overall, Bessner is right to criticize bad US foreign policy, but has giant blind spots WRT the authoritarian and increasingly totalitarian states of Russia and China. He should be aware of how difficult it would be to criticize them as a citizen vs. criticizing the most powerful state in the history of the world as a citizen. Perhaps it is good that the US does not have the unquestioned dominance it did in 1991. Would things be better if the Chinese Communist Party had influence in every developing nation because of its development projects? Maybe they don't want to export Communism with Chinese Characteristics, but they certainly aren't in favor of liberal values like individual freedom.