Oakland, CA—On July 4th, 1821, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams said in a speech to the US House of Representatives, “America, in the assembly of nations...held forth to them the hand of honest friendship, of equal freedom, of generous reciprocity....Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy.”

In his new book In Search of Monsters to Destroy: The Folly of American Empire and the Paths to Peace, Christopher J, Coyne, PhD and Senior Fellow at Independent Institute, echoes John Quincy Adams’ assertion on US foreign policy today.

After 9/11, the United States tried to establish liberal political regimes in the Middle East and in the mountains of Afghanistan—but the effort, according to Coyne, was doomed to fail. And his logic is simple.

“The military-industrial sector is characterized by entanglements between government and private firms, with the latter earning large profits from war preparation and war-making,” said Coyne.

While Coyne documents the history of American empire and the associated costs, he is far from being an isolationist. Instead, he is a vocal champion of global engagement, insisting there are workable, proven alternatives, deeply rooted in human experience, to imperialism, militarism, and empire. These alternatives preserve freedom, promote security, and foster mutually enriching friendship among the nations of the earth.

Read In Search of Monsters to Destroy and you’ll never look at the nation state or international relations the same way again.

Author Biography: Dr. Christopher J. Coyne is Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute, Co-Editor of The Independent Review, and Professor of Economics at George Mason University.

For more information or to interview Dr. Coyne, contact Robert Ade, [email protected], or (510) 635-3690.

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