Hayek Program Podcast

On this episode, we’ll hear a book panel discussion on Christopher J. Coyne’s book,In Search of Monsters to Destroy: The Folly of American Empire and the Paths to Peace (Independent Institute, 2023). In his comments, Coyne challenges the notion that the US military is necessary for global order, explaining that without the US as the global police force chaos will not overtake the world, and questions the efficacy and morality of a militaristic, top-down approach to global conflict. Coyne breaks down the history of the American empires into three phases: continental expansion, overseas imperialism, and global hegemony, and describes the features of the present-day American empire and the interventionist mindset. He argues that foreign intervention and the effort to export democracy to other nations by illiberal means can only lead to illiberal ends. A liberal empire is ultimately illiberal. He calls for reimagining our understanding of peace as a community-driven process, emphasizing the role of human imaginat