Foreign Policy of Self-Interest

As a foreign policy instructor at a major university, I am blessed by the occasional free book. Most of these are textbooks, which I quickly sell to the highest bidder. This morning, however, I discovered a little gem in my box by the name A Foreign Policy of Self-Interest: A Moral Idea for America. The publisher of this prestigious tome: The Ayn Rand Institute. The blurb on the back reads in part:

In this uncompromising manifesto, the author (Peter Schwartz) calls for a radically different foreign policy- one based entirely on self-interest. Repudiating any dichotomy between the moral and the practical, he advocates a policy under which a nation’s interests are measured by only one standard: the individual liberty of its citizens

Needless to say, I’m fascinated. Unfortunately, even I have better things to do than read the the publications of ARI. Nonetheless, when I have time to take a glance, I’ll fill everyone in on the Randian take on the War on Terror. From what I can glean thus far, it involves a considerably more aggressive approach than most neoconservatives are comfortable with.

UPDATE: Skimming reveals it to be pretty disappointing, even for a Randy. “Freedom” is apparently important, the Islamic religion is profoundly evil, and we ought to invade Iran. Israel ought to annex the Occupied Territories, thus bringing freedom to the Palestinian people. We must either ostracize or invade dictatorships, although there isn’t really much of an indication which. All foreign policy problems, from Vietnam to Liberia, can be laid at the feet of “altruism”. However, it’s still possible that I could grow bitter and disillusioned enough to order 200 copies for my next American Foreign Policy class. I wonder if the Randys would send me a gift certificate to ARI, or maybe an “individualist” coffee maker or something. . .