# Multimedia 

Multimedia 

---

- [Podcasts](/podcasts)
- [Cato Video](/multimedia/cato-video)
- [Video Series](/search/category/video-series)
- [Events](/multimedia/events)

[ 

Download Episode 

](https://feeds.acast.com/public/streams/5e3db1b9659d595770f8b9b0/episodes/66e82163090e4349ddb239b5.mp3)Subscribe:

[ 

Apple Podcasts 

](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/power-problems/id1282100393) [ 

Spotify 

](https://open.spotify.com/show/7LrC4meqQkPvzFqP9PMwkS) 

Power Problems • September 17, 2024 

# Why Can’t America Retrench? 

Peter Harris critiques America’s grand strategy of primacy and advocates for a move to restraint that necessarily includes wholesale reforms to domestic as well as foreign policy. He explains why primacy has persisted despite the wisdom of retrenchment and how decades of an expansive foreign policy has shaped American politics, culture, and institutions. He also discusses the problems of vested interests, partisanship, and how to make restraint more salable to the public.

**Show Notes**

- Peter Harris, *Why America Can’t Retrench (And How it Might)*, Polity Press, 2024.

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

![Peter Harris](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-09/peter-harris.jpeg?itok=voDGakQB) 

##### Peter Harris 

Non-resident Fellow, Defense Priorities

![John Glaser](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/John%20Glaser.jpg?itok=-uvxR8zG) 

##### John Glaser 

Host, Power Problems Podcast

[ 

](https://twitter.com/jwcglaser)