Undisciplined on Nostr: Our Politics Incentivizes 'Forever Wars' | The Libertarian Institute By Patrick ...
Our Politics Incentivizes 'Forever Wars' | The Libertarian Institute
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/our-politics-incentivizes-forever-wars/By Patrick Pillow
> Among the commentariat, America’s problem with “forever wars” is usually discussed as a failure of grand strategy. In this telling, presidents misjudge threats; generals overestimate what military power can accomplish; and policymakers confuse battlefield victories with political success. These explanations are all valid, but they miss something fundamental: the people making decisions about war face incentives that are often badly misaligned with the interests of the public.
> The United States does not need to assume that its presidents are uniquely reckless, its generals uniquely ambitious, or its diplomats uniquely foolish. It needs to recognize that even intelligent, well-intentioned people can make systematically bad decisions when the institutional incentives surrounding them are wrong.
> Consider the politician’s dilemma. No president wants to be remembered as the person who “lost” Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, or some future client state. Continuing a failing war therefore has an asymmetric political advantage. If the war eventually succeeds, the president can claim credit. If it fails, responsibility can be distributed among predecessors, allies, Congress, insufficient resources, or changing circumstances. Withdrawal is different. If the government collapses afterward, the president who ordered the withdrawal can be blamed personally.
https://stacker.news/items/1544255Published at
2026-08-09 22:09:14 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "Our Politics Incentivizes 'Forever Wars' | The Libertarian Institute\nhttps://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/our-politics-incentivizes-forever-wars/\n\nBy Patrick Pillow\n\n\u003e Among the commentariat, America’s problem with “forever wars” is usually discussed as a failure of grand strategy. In this telling, presidents misjudge threats; generals overestimate what military power can accomplish; and policymakers confuse battlefield victories with political success. These explanations are all valid, but they miss something fundamental: the people making decisions about war face incentives that are often badly misaligned with the interests of the public.\n\n\u003e The United States does not need to assume that its presidents are uniquely reckless, its generals uniquely ambitious, or its diplomats uniquely foolish. It needs to recognize that even intelligent, well-intentioned people can make systematically bad decisions when the institutional incentives surrounding them are wrong.\n\n\u003e Consider the politician’s dilemma. No president wants to be remembered as the person who “lost” Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, or some future client state. Continuing a failing war therefore has an asymmetric political advantage. If the war eventually succeeds, the president can claim credit. If it fails, responsibility can be distributed among predecessors, allies, Congress, insufficient resources, or changing circumstances. Withdrawal is different. If the government collapses afterward, the president who ordered the withdrawal can be blamed personally.\n\nhttps://stacker.news/items/1544255",
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