Americans love “slaying the dragon” and “toppling regimes” but hate the messy aftermath of nation-building, according to Swarthmore assistant professor Dominic Tierney.
Lecturing in front of approximately forty students, he presented this argument on the American ideology of war Thursday night in Huntsman Hall at “Why We Have No Stomach for the Fight in Afghanistan." The event was sponsored by the Penn International Affairs Association.
In his analysis, Tierney contended that America defines war in absolute terms, a battle where good and evil are clearly defined. But, he explained, once that distinction is blurred, once faced with implementing high-minded ideals like democracy and freedom, America inevitably falls short.
When answering questions afterward, Tierney explained disillusionment toward the war in Afghanistan as a consequence of the tendency to expect too much out of too little.
“We need appropriate notions of success,” Tierney stated. America should base its definition of success on whether or not Afghanistan ends up looking “more like Bangladesh” than the United States, he said.
It’s extremely difficult to “succeed in establishing democracy” in an area like Afghanistan, particularly when that democracy is dictated by foreigners, said College junior Siler Bryan, who attended the event.
“He seemed to have some very good statistics at his command” to support his case, Bryan added.
Once America is in the midst of nation-building, Tierney argued, it has difficulty pulling away, as it feels responsible for the circumstances on the ground.
This belief was also reflected in the audience. “I would agree it wasn’t a good idea to invade Iraq,” College junior and attendee Rai Murtaza said. “But now that we are there and we have responsibilities.”
College senior Jay Raghavan, president of the IAA and one of the organizers of the event, believed Tierney articulated a sound argument. “It was very non-partisan,” he said.
“We may not all agree with his argument but its important to have the discussion,” Raghavan added.
The lecture was the first of a series organized by the IAA. The group’s next lecture will be on March 2.
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Every state is more motivated by inter-state war than nation-building. The US is not exceptional except in the opposite direction to Tierney's argument: The US is actually more committed to nation-building than any other state: US partners in Afghanistan commit less and are withdrawing sooner.