General Strategies: How the United States Makes War (... Eliot Cohen Explains America's Defence Doctrine) (Interview‪)‬

Recently you have written about the United States as a "reluctant warrior" in international affairs. Could you elaborate on your views about the unique nature of the US role in global affairs in the post-Cold War and post-September 11 era? You used the right word when you said "unique," and that is the problem. There has not been any country, certainly since Rome--and that is not a good comparison--that has had the kind of power in the many different dimensions that the United States has today. The United States possesses not just the largest economy ever seen by a very wide margin, but also enormous and overwhelming military power. Furthermore, it also has a tremendous amount of what is misleadingly termed "soft power," which refers to a tremendous cultural influence, including academic leadership in graduate schools and universities and tremendous resources in innovation and creativity in science and technology. This unprecedented situation for the United States reminds me of something US President Abraham Lincoln once said: "As our circumstances are new, we have to think anew." The problem is that there are not many historical parallels to provide guidance for the contemporary situation.