In Search of Monsters to Destroy

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Peter Boettke & Chris Coyne discuss Coyne's latest book, In Search of Monsters to Destroy. 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 as illiberal means can lead only to illiberal ends. Boettke & Coyne discuss the ways in which these illiberal means have failed to produce a liberal empire and examine whether interventionist methods ever have a place in foreign policy. Additionally, Coyne reveals his picks for those who have best upheld liberal traditions in foreign policy as well as those who ultimately disappointed in their interventionist views.