Is A Military Drawdown Inevitable?

Beinart expects so:

For a century, American foreign policy has gone through cycles. The United States extends itself militarily, gets burned, pulls back (although not necessarily back to where it started), replenishes its energy and resources, sees a threat, sticks its neck out a little, gains more confidence, and then the whole cycle starts again. Nothing is predetermined. But judging from the state of the American military, the mood of American public, the receptivity of America’s allies and even the agenda of America’s presidential candidates, we’re still early in the withdrawal stage.

It’s impossible to know what it will take to undo the hangover from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Maybe it will take a return to economic surplus. Maybe it will require the U.S. military having enough time to restore itself after the battering of the last decade. Maybe some frightening event will turn Americans outward again. But whatever it is, it’s unlikely to happen just because Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan win the White House.

When it comes to foreign policy, presidents don’t deal the cards. They play the cards they’re dealt. And regardless of who’s in office next January, he’ll be holding a pair of fives.