Robert Kagan's Foreign Policy Thought: Realism and American Power

Introduction

Robert Kagan has been described as a "neoconservative" historian, and yet the commentator's views are more complex than can be squeezed into one phrase. Kagan does exhibit some of the hallmarks of neoconservative ideology, including a continued belief in American exceptionalism and a willingness to use terms like "new world order." Kagan vehemently opposes the belief that the American hegemon is declining in status and power, admitting only that the United States is rethinking its role in foreign policy and international affairs.

Kagan is a foreign policy advisor whom Barack Obama reportedly heralded and cited in presidential speeches.¹ One reviewer in The New York Times described the author's work as "wonderfully argued."² Another claims that glaring logical fallacies — "fuzzy generalizations, debatable assertions and self-important declarations of the obvious" — generally discredit the international relations commentator.³ Robert Kagan therefore emerges as a highly controversial figure who, at the very least, has a firm grasp on the American psyche, fears and all.

Author Background

Robert Kagan was born in Athens, New York, in 1958. He worked as a political advisor to Congressman Jack Kemp before joining the Reagan administration. After writing speeches for Secretary of State George Shultz, Kagan became head of the Office of Public Diplomacy and Deputy for Policy in the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs. Kagan also co-founded the Project for the New American Century and has authored several books on foreign policy and international relations.

Concepts of International Relations

Kagan's earliest work describes the Reagan administration's interventionist foreign policies, as in A Twilight Struggle: American Power and Nicaragua, 1977–1990. In this volume, Kagan describes the new world order that Reagan helped create through the newfound power the United States wielded after the demise of the Soviet Union. Kagan does not so much congratulate the Reagan administration as accept its decisions from a realist standpoint. Indeed, Kagan emerges throughout his career as a committed realist.

In The Return of History and the End of Dreams, Kagan argues that the world has not magically transformed since the end of the Cold War, and that the United States plays a strategic role in shaping the character of the new world order. "History has returned," Kagan declares — a direct response to Francis Fukuyama's assertion that the "end of history" had arrived.⁴ Kagan continues: "the democracies must come together to shape it, or others will shape it for them," referring in part to global transnational terrorist organizations.⁵

In Of Paradise and Power, Kagan describes the emerging differences between Americans and Europeans as increasingly important to characterizing the new world order. Europeans, he claims, have retreated into a self-contained economic and political unit. Kagan somewhat cynically describes the European mentality as a "post-historical paradise of peace and relative prosperity," characterized by "rules and transnational negotiation and cooperation."⁶ He is equally critical of America's approach to strategic global leadership. The United States, he argues, refuses to see the world in anything but black-or-white terms, pursues a warlike mentality, and prefers unilateralism while "exercising power in an anarchic Hobbesian world where international laws and rules are unreliable," requiring the use of hegemonic force.⁷ While Barack Obama pursued a different strategy than his predecessor, the core principles of American foreign policy practice, in Kagan's view, remained essentially the same.

Conclusion

The cynicism with which Kagan frames his postmodern realpolitik seems irksome to some, but a salve for others who seek more intelligent insight into how America can take responsibility for the world it has created and own its own power. Kagan sees the current world order as an extension of past American decisions for intervention and unilateralism. As such, the United States must continue to maintain its hegemony in order to promote peace and stability in an essentially chaotic and unpredictable political landscape — one in which the nation-state is no longer the primary political enterprise.

Robert Kagan's astute but controversial foreign policy thought implies that there are real moral obligations in preserving American power. It is therefore easy to see why the commentator continues to be described as a neoconservative — albeit one whose opinions President Obama seemed to appreciate.

References

Kagan, Robert. "A Changing World Order." The Washington Post. 15 November 2013.

Kagan, Robert. A Twilight Struggle: American Power and Nicaragua, 1977–1990. New York: Free Press, 1996.

Kagan, Robert. Of Paradise and Power. New York: First Vintage, 2004.

Kagan, Robert. The Return of History and the End of Dreams. New York: Random House, 2008.

Kakutani, Michiko. "Historian Who Influences Both Obama and Romney: 'The World America Made,' by Robert Kagan." The New York Times. 13 February 2012.

Sanger, David E. "Democracy, Limited." The New York Times. 18 May 2008.