by Conor Friedersdorf
Dan Drezner writes:
As I think about it, here are the Millennials' foundational foreign policy experiences:
1) An early childhood of peace and prosperity -- a.k.a., the Nineties;
2) The September 11th attacks;
3) Two Very Long Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq;
4) One Financial Panic/Great Recession;
5) The ascent of China under the shadow of U.S. hegemony.
From these experiences, I would have to conclude that this generation should be anti-interventionist to the point of isolationism. Then again, I'm looking at this through my own irony-drenched Gen-X eyes.
I'm curious to hear from twentysomethings in the comments -- what are the foreign policy lessons that you can draw from your upbringing? I'm also curious what lessons twentysomethings in other countries can draw from their own formative experiences.
Interesting. I wonder what role, if any, that globalization, changes in media, and the absence of a draft or the threat of one has on these attitudes. For prior generations, war meant a lot more even to people who weren't fighting than it does today.
(Mr. Drezner tells us what he is reading this August here.)