Quotessence
Home / Authors / Andrew Bacevich
Andrew Bacevich

Andrew Bacevich Quotes

Political Scientist

Filter quotes by topic

AllMilitaryPolicyWarIfsMightPeoplePresidentTodayCostDiscussionEndsEventsGovernmentIraqKnowsPartyPayPersistProblemSecurity

Famous Andrew Bacevich Quotes

“Time and again-from the collapse of the Soviet Union to the events of 9/11 to the onset of the Arab Spring-events have caught the experts, whether in government or on the outside, completely by surprise. Business owners with comparable performance records go bust. Brokers lose their clients. Physicians get sued for malpractice. Yet think-tankers and policy wonks continue to opine, never pausing to reflect on-or apologize for-their spotty records.”

ThinkingGovernmentLosesRecordsEventsPolicySpringPerformancesUnionsSurpriseCaughtExpertsOwnersSovietCollapseClientsPhysiciansApologizingSoviet UnionBusiness OwnersBrokersPausingArab SpringMalpractice
Author:Andrew Bacevich
Create image

“The U.S. military today garrisons the planet in a fashion without historical precedent. Successive administrations, regardless of party, justify and perpetuate this policy by insisting that positioning U.S. forces in distant lands fosters peace, stability, and security. In the present century, however, perpetuating this practice has visibly had the opposite effect. In the eyes of many of those called upon to "host" American bases, the permanent presence of such forces smacks of occupation. They resist. Why should U.S. policymakers expect otherwise?”

EyeTodayPartySecurityMilitaryFashionPolicyHistoricalJustifyStabilityHostSmack
Author:Andrew Bacevich
Create image

“Are there any military actions that the president of the United States may not order on his own authority? If so, what are they? Bit by bit, decade by decade, Congress has abdicated its assigned role in authorizing war. Today, it merely rubberstamps what presidents decide to do (or simply stays mum). Who does this deference to an imperial presidency benefit? Have U.S. policies thereby become more prudent, enlightened, and successful?”

WarTodayActionPresidentSuccessfulMilitaryPolicyAuthorityEnlightenedMum
Author:Andrew Bacevich
Create image

“The folly and hubris of the policy makers who heedlessly thrust the nation into an ill-defined and open-ended 'global war on terror' without the foggiest notion of what victory would look like, how it would be won, and what it might cost approached standards hitherto achieved only by slightly mad German warlords.”

LooksWarMightWould BeNationsPolicyVictoryCostStandardsMadNotionIllTerrorDefinedFollyMakersThrustWar On TerrorHubrisPolicy MakersWarlords
Book:Washington Rules: America's Path to Permanent War
Create image