The greatest American blunder in Bangladesh |
For decades, many leading analysts and policymakers have described America’s global strategic doctrine as sophisticated, resilient, even foolproof. From Washington’s vantage point, its blend of military power, economic leverage, intelligence networks, and ideological messaging has been seen as the ultimate toolkit for shaping world affairs. Yet history tells a less flattering story. Again and again, American doctrine has not merely failed but backfired—sometimes spectacularly—in countries as varied as Vietnam, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Venezuela, Egypt, and now, increasingly, Bangladesh.
The problem is not a lack of power. It is a recurring failure of political judgment.
In Vietnam, the war remains the most instructive example. The United States entered the conflict armed with overwhelming conventional superiority—advanced airpower, mechanized infantry, and unmatched logistical capacity. Yet it underestimated the political resolve and nationalist fervor of the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong. Backed decisively by the Soviet Union and China with weapons, training, and strategic depth, Hanoi turned the war into a prolonged insurgency. Mounting American casualties, a disillusioned public, and international embarrassment forced Washington to withdraw in 1973. Two years later, Saigon fell. Vietnam was not merely a military setback; it was a political disastrous surrender for the US.
Washington, however, did not learn its lesson.
In Venezuela, recently, policymakers in Washington entertained the notion that by orchestrating the abduction of Nicolás Maduro, they could become the ‘neo-masters’ of the Venezuelan people—establishing exclusive control over the nation’s massive natural resources, including oil, gas, and gold. Concurrently, they calculated that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) could supplant Venezuelan drug cartels and refurbish its own covert transnational drug trafficking operations. President Donald Trump, adamantly........