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Words of WarcraftFred Kaplan takes readers' questions about fixing Bush's military, U.S. national security, and foriegn policy.

Posted Thursday, April 3, 2008, at 6:18 PM ET

(Continued from page 2)

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Fred Kaplan: I think you're misreading what I wrote, a bit. Or maybe I should have elaborated more fully (though I have in other columns and, even more, in my new book, Daydream Believers: How a Few Grand Ideas Wrecked American Power—hey, I have to get a plug in here somehow). I'm not saying that we were "the good guy in the Cold War" (though our sins were far less heinous than the Soviet Union's, I think it's reasonable to say—we did not suppress our European allies in the same way that Moscow suppressed, absolutely controlled, theirs, for instance). My point was this: During the Cold War, many Western (and in-between) nations subordinated their own interests in order to accommodate ours. In some cases this was not voluntarily; in other cases, as you point out, less so. Now, with the Cold War over and the common enemy vanquished, many of these countries are pursuing their own intersts again. My point is that the Bush administration's initial premise—that we are "the sole superpower' and therefore can do pretty much anything we want, and we don't need allies to do it—is completely wrong. In a very important way, we are less powerful than we used to be, less able to get our way without trying much; the whole concept of "superpower" is obsolete.

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Washington: Thanks for your columns—I have found them quite interesting. Any word on how the Central Command position will be filled? Is there any credence to the rumor that it will be Petraeus, with Odierno going to replace him at Multi-National Force Iraq?

Fred Kaplan: Thanks. I've read the same rumors you have. They seem plausible. But I have no inside dope on what's for real—and it may well be that no more than a half-dozen people do.

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U.S.: I'm very troubled by the extensive use of stop-loss orders and involuntary recalls of people who thought they'd gotten out of the military. While I realize military people signed on the dotted line, the use of these provisions in this way seems to me to be a clear violation of the spirit of the law. Are any plans being made to avoid this situation in future conflicts?

Fred Kaplan: I agree with you, but I see no end to it as long as the military doesn't have any other way to keep the level of troops that the political leadership (i.e., the president) wants to keep deployed—especially in Iraq. And currently, there is no other way. Recruitment targets are being met only by lowering standards to perilous levels. Junior officers are getting out of the service in droves. This is why a lot of general officers are eager to find some way to cut our losses in Iraq—they fear that the Army might wind up broken.

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Rockville, Md.: Regarding terrorist attacks, what about the Washington sniper, who roamed around the city for a month killing people at random? The entire city was paralyzed with fear. I guess if it's not al-Qaeda or people with brown skin, we don't consider that a "terrorist attack."

Fred Kaplan: In fairness, the phrase "terrorist attack" usually implies foreign involvement. (Didn't the sniper have brown skin?)

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Tyrtaios-rising: Would it surprise anyone to know our embassies and consulates, worldwide, are where they are to represent our economic interests? What are those interests? Certainly not catering to distraught American tourists, much to many's chagrin. A posting by cbarrett on The Fray discussed an interesting issue: oil and our foreign dependence on it.

It consumes us, we are held hostage by it and the competitive world demand for it. Everything else, the Palestine issue, proper dialogue with key players, not just in that region, but within our own hemisphere, let alone Africa. Something not lost on the Chinese incidentally. Have you been to Port Harcourt, Nigeria, recently? Would it surprise you to learn a lot of petroleum and natural gas exports come from there to us?

Our foreign policy extends to the use of military force projection in enforcing an outline called the Carter Doctrine. Look it up and draw conclusions why we focus so much on the Middle East. What are our future economic priorities going to be? That will drive our foreign policy. In many cases, the use or misuse of our military strength as a form of foreign policy as well. Which future president has even hinted at addressing our dependence on foreign oil? I'm aware it's more complicated then that. But it's a start.

Fred Kaplan: As you say, it's "more complicated" than oil (and other resources), but certainly that's a large part of it. Most wars over the centuries have had something to do with resources. You're certainly right in your main point—(a) that weaning our dependence on foreign oil should be regarded as a vital national-security priority and (b) that no politicians are talking about this very much.

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wayhey1: Is it too much to expect the current president to do all of these things that Kaplan suggests? Bush still has time left in office to get the ball rolling. Of course, to regain other nations' trust he actually would have to admit to making mistakes. As a graduate of a 12-step-type recovery program, he should understand this better than most—yet he hasn't shown any inclination to apply life's important lessons to foreign policy, and that is disappointing. Machismo and claiming infallibility is the opposite of diplomacy, as well as the opposite of personal healing.

In that same vein, Fred said one thing I just can't let go by without making a comment: "The world was dominated by the United States and the Soviet Union, and the countries in between often subordinated their own interests to accommodate—in the West by choice, in the East by force—the interests of their superpower protector."