Historian Kolko (Century of War) comes right out and blames the West: "the principal... danger the entire world confronts is America's capacity and readiness to intervene virtually anywhere." U.S. foreign policy has been "destabilizing and counterproductive," he asserts, particularly in the Middle East. Nonetheless, he offers a nuanced analysis of the U.S.'s role in the region: its pursuit of oil, the reliance on Israel as a Cold War proxy and the downplaying of the danger of Arab nationalism. Will there be another century of war? Yes, Kolko says, unless the U.S. renounces its ambition to rule the world. (Sept. 1)
