Many of the most resonant images from the Iraq War are as deceptive as the Bush administration’s rationales for starting the war in the first place. Consider the toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein on April 8, 2003. Photos of the event show what seems to be a crowd of Iraqis pulling down the 40-foot monument in Paradise Square with the help of U.S. Marines. The press compared the event to the fall of the Berlin Wall. In fact, the event was carefully staged by the U.S. military, which had sealed off the area with tanks. The fall of the Wall it was not.

With the help of Rumsfeld and his ilk, the Bush administration created a world of words to create, implement, and justify its policies.

Nationalism is once again getting a makeover. Associated with all manner of ills—Nazism, genocide, unsavory dictatorships—nationalism is being rebranded by the same political science community that largely ignored the phenomenon for so many years. The latest issues of both Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy feature articles that proclaim the virtues of nationalism. In both cases, the claims are overstated.

One year ago, our greatest fear was that the president, still unable to master his hormones, would try to go mano a mano with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But then along came the December 2007 National Intelligence Estimate, which seemed to take the rug out from under the hawks by clearly stating that Iran halted its nuclear weapons development program in 2003.

This week at FPIF, we debut our new strategic focus on the global U.S. military footprint – and how to shrink it.

There hasn’t been a war in Northeast Asia for over 50 years. The countries in the region are not only making headway in talks with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program, they’re also talking about creating a permanent peace structure in the region. Compared to the Middle East or much of Africa, it’s a pretty quiet corner of the world

George W. Bush’s numbers have sunk so low that he’s decided to embrace not just a single sick patient or even a hospital full of them. This week, the president will be hugging an entire continent.

Imagine if the world leaders, pushed by an aroused populace, came together to agree to put aside their differences and focus on addressing climate change. It’s a difficult challenge. It’s expensive. It requires considerable human resources. And the answer is a no-brainer.

The United States acts as if it owns the world. This might seem counter-intuitive. After all, more and more foreign entities are lapping up bargain properties in our “homeland.” And aside from U.S. military bases — a not inconsiderable amount of territory — the United States is not land-grabbing the way imperial Rome or London did. But since when was ownership all about possessing the deed to the property? Bullies can own the neighborhood, even if they’re only renting a room in one of the houses. It has a lot to do with attitude. And the Bush administration has attitude up the wazoo.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the U.S. government took a cue from the Europeans or even from our own history to come up with a more visionary stimulus package?