Quote:
... Each generation of Americans seems to produce its apostles of realism in foreign policy. Especially when America hits a rough patch abroad. For defeat is the health of what is called "realism," which sometimes markedly resembles traditional American isolationism, the unrealistic belief we can withdraw from the world.
Today's realists seek out every American setback; each can be cited as a portent unless the country disengages from the world's troubles. It's unrealistic, we're told, to think democracy will ever take hold in Iraq or anywhere in the Arab world. (Just as we were once told Germans and Japanese were incorrigibly autocratic; it was built into their nationalistic genes.) So forget those successful elections in Iraq; only bad news is real news..
