Illusions of Managing History: The Enduring Relevance of Reinhold Niebuhr

Hosted by Office of the Provost

Andrew J. Bacevich, a Boston University professor of history and international relations, delivers the 2007 University Lecture, Illusions of Managing History: The Enduring Relevance of Reinhold Niebuhr. A self-professed “groupie” of the mid-twentieth-century cultural critic and Protestant theologian Niebuhr, Bacevich addresses the parallels between Niebuhr’s criticisms of Cold War–era America and his own analysis of the war in Iraq, ultimately calling for a “Niebuhrian revival” in American foreign policy.

Bacevich defines four of Niebuhr’s principle theories — the “persistent sin” of American exceptionalism, the ultimate indecipherability of history, the false allure of simple foreign policy solutions, and the need to appreciate the limits of American power — that he believes can explain contemporary problems in American foreign policy. Bacevich argues that today, as in Niebuhr’s time, American policymakers are so enamored with romanticized notions of democracy and America’s moral authority that they fail to see the flaws of supposed cure-all policies like the war on terrorism in Iraq. The result, he says, is a mismanaged and infeasible policy in the Middle East that has damaged America’s reputation and political stability in the Middle East. Bacevich concludes by calling for a reassessment of American values and culture, for, as Bacevich warns and as Niebuhr himself once wrote, “Should the United States perish, the ruthlessness of the foe would be only the secondary cause of the disaster.”

Established in 1950 to honor faculty engaged in outstanding research, the University Lecture is an opportunity for the members of the BU community and the public to hear a distinguished scholar discuss a topic of recognized excellence.

October 9, 2007, 6:30 p.m.
Tsai Performance Center

Video length is 01:23:01.

About the Speaker: Andrew J. Bacevich is a professor of international relations at Boston University, where he directed the University’s Center for International Relations from 1998 to 2005. Bacevich attended the U.S. Military Academy; he served in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970 and is a retired army colonel. He earned a master’s and a doctorate in American diplomatic history from Princeton University. Prior to arriving at BU in 1998, he taught at West Point and Johns Hopkins University. The recipient of numerous awards and grants in his field, Bacevich has shared his expertise in American diplomacy, military history, and foreign policy as a fellow at John Hopkins University, Harvard University, and the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He is the editor of The Long War: A New History of U.S. National Security Policy Since World War II and the author of several books, including American Empire: The Realities and Consequences of U.S. Diplomacy and The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War. He has published numerous essays in publications such as Foreign Policy, The New Republic, and The Nation, and has written opinion pieces for the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, and many other newspapers.

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