The Case for Restrained U.S. Foreign Policy

Reckless foreign policy choices can end up costing the United States more than anticipated. "I would wager that if we knew what the costs are for some of our decisions over the last two decades, if we knew about those costs upfront, we might have been more cautious in the decisions we made," says
Dr. Ashley J. Tellis, the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "Restraint and keeping values at least in your peripheral vision, as you make key decisions, really pay off in very pragmatic ways, and in ways that make a difference to your material interests. And I think that's really something that we ought not to forget."

This interview from the FPA archives was recorded in 2021.