Expert takes aim at heart of US foreign policy

Foreign policy expert Christopher Preble expounds on how Washington's military power has turned the US into a "hated symbol of arrogance". In his book titled The Power Problem: How American Military Dominance Makes Us Less Safe, Less Prosperous and Less Free, Preble criticizes the post-Cold War mindset that has encouraged Washington to seek military control over the world. According to Preble, the longstanding US eagerness to play sheriff and intervene in world affairs has had various social and political repercussions in the United States. "I am challenging a central premise which has guided both Democrats and Republicans since the end of the Cold War, which is the United States is the indispensable nation, this was a term that Madeleine Albright appropriated but is very clear in George Bush's work as well," Preble told Press TV correspondent Mike Mazzocco. "The United States is not the indispensable nation," he continued. "We are not the only nation in the world that cares about security; we're not the only government in the world that cares about its own citizens." Preble, a director of foreign policy studies and a veteran of the Persian Gulf War, said US efforts to discourage countries from defending themselves have so far been "shortsighted and counter productive". He instead proposes a new grand strategy that will advance US national security agenda by calling for a new military configuration that requires cooperation instead of confrontation. One of the most vocal critics of Washington's foreign policy, Preble has published over 100 articles in major publications including USA Today, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Harvard International Review.