The limits of American unilateralism

I have written before about the Project for the New American Century, the only conspiracy of which I am aware that has its own website. Led by William Kristol, it is the brains behind the Bush presidency's foreign policy. Last month the PNAC issued a statement calling on the United States Congress to increase the size of active military personnel. While the draft is not mentioned in so many words, one senses that the sort of interventionist policy favoured by PNAC will eventually require this. The statement is supported by a group of neoconservatives and liberal hawks and thus straddles partisan lines. Indeed, the US armed forces are becoming more aggressive in seeking recruits, and it may be only a matter of time before conscription is imposed. When and if that happens, it is not difficult to predict that domestic public support for Bush's unilateralism will collapse, echoing developments of four decades ago. In short, what we may be witnessing is the beginning of the end of the current foreign policy régime in the US. What is the alternative? Perhaps strengthening international institutions, including a rebalancing of NATO.