American “exceptionalism” may sell well at home, but it does poorly abroad. President George W. Bush’s Iraq war – arguably a violation of international law –&nbsp;showed that though America spends almost as much on defense as the rest of the world combined, it could not pacify a country with less than 10% of its population and less than 1% of its GDP.
美国“例外论”在其国内也许很得人心，但国外却不这么看。前美国总统乔治·沃克·布什（George W. Bush）所发动的伊拉克战争——可以说这违反了国际法——显示了尽管美国国防支出几乎等于世界其他国家的总和，它也无法使一个人口只有其10%， GDP仅相当于其1%的国家屈服。