Why America Misunderstands the World: National Experience and Roots of Misperception

Former intelligence officer Pillar (nonresident senior fellow, Ctr. for 21st Century Security and Intelligence, Foreign Policy program, Brookings Institution; Intelligence and U.S. Foreign Policy) discusses the unique exceptionalism that America possesses regarding its position on the political world stage. Owing to certain advantages that come more from circumstance than morality, such as being geographically isolated and therefore protected from other nations, as well as having a large, fertile country within which to grow, Americans have come to believe that more than these natural advantages have helped to create the attitude that the United States is particularly entitled to having its way economically and politically. Pillar's argument is that the lens through which America sees itself is now that of a well meaning and somewhat superior entity and that this mind-set adversely impacts how international relations play out between us and the rest of the world.