Andrew Bacevich

Life

Andrew J. Bacevich Jr., born on July 5, 1947, in Normal, Illinois, is an American historian and retired U.S. Army colonel. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1969 and served in the Vietnam War (1970–1971) and the Gulf War, retiring as a colonel in the early 1990s after the Camp Doha explosion incident. Bacevich earned a Ph.D. in American Diplomatic History from Princeton University in 1982, with a thesis on American military diplomacy. He taught at West Point and Johns Hopkins University before joining Boston University in 1998, where he became Professor Emeritus of International Relations and History. In 2007, his son, Andrew J. Bacevich, died in the Iraq War. Bacevich co-founded the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and remains a prominent critic of U.S. foreign policy.

People Who Influenced Their Thought

• Charles Beard: Bacevich admired Beard’s revisionist approach to U.S. expansionism, shaping his critique of American imperialism.
• William Appleman Williams: Williams’ work on U.S. economic and imperial motives influenced Bacevich’s view of foreign policy as driven by domestic needs.
• Reinhold Niebuhr: Niebuhr’s theological critique of American power and moral ambiguity informed Bacevich’s skepticism of militarized foreign policy.

Main Ideas and Publications

Bacevich’s work critiques U.S. foreign policy, emphasizing its over-reliance on military power and imperial tendencies. His main ideas include rejecting American exceptionalism, advocating non-interventionism, and highlighting the disconnect between U.S. military actions and national interests.

• American Empire: The Realities and Consequences of U.S. Diplomacy (2002): Argues U.S. foreign policy reflects a continuous expansionist tradition, not just Cold War dynamics.
• The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War (2005): Examines how cultural and political factors glorify military power, distorting U.S. policy.
• The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism (2008): Critiques the unsustainable belief in U.S. global dominance and over-reliance on military force.
• Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War (2010): Challenges the bipartisan consensus on perpetual military engagement.
• America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History (2016): Chronicles U.S. military failures in the Middle East since the 1980s.

Controversies around His Main Work or Thought

Bacevich’s critiques of U.S. militarism sparked debate, particularly during the Iraq War. His 2007 Boston Globe editorial calling the Bush Doctrine “immoral, illicit, and imprudent” drew ire from neoconservatives who supported preventive wars. Critics argued his non-interventionist stance underestimated threats like terrorism. His 2008 endorsement of Barack Obama as a conservative choice in The American Conservative alienated some conservative readers, who saw it as inconsistent with his principles. Later, his criticism of Obama’s Afghanistan troop surge as politically motivated rather than strategic (2010, The New Republic) stirred controversy among liberals who viewed it as unfair. Bacevich’s opposition to Ukraine’s NATO membership in 2024 further polarized opinions, with some accusing him of appeasing authoritarian regimes, while others praised his caution against escalation.

Key People Influenced by Their Thought

• Tom Engelhardt: Editor and author who echoed Bacevich’s critiques of U.S. militarism in his TomDispatch essays.
• Chalmers Johnson: Political scientist whose work on American empire was amplified by Bacevich’s scholarship.
• Daniel Larison: Conservative commentator who adopted Bacevich’s non-interventionist framework in foreign policy analysis.

Legacy

Andrew Bacevich’s incisive critiques of U.S. militarism and imperialism have reshaped debates on American foreign policy, blending military experience with historical scholarship to advocate for a restrained, principled approach to global engagement.