History Is a Fogged Up Rear View Mirror--We Need New Approaches

We're not much as super powers go: look at the wars in the
Middle East of recent and current vintage in Iraq and Afghanistan.
World War Two, with greater import and consequences, lasted
fewer years with better resolutions than our efforts in the Middle
East. The U.S., unafraid of its ignorance in all Arab matters,
launched the never-ending war in Iraq, still occupying there
with thousands of "supporters and advisers"; more than
8,000 American troops remain in Afghanistan. Two wars
lasting well over ten years, not eliminating the murderous
factions they set out to curtail--some super power.

I thought I had better do a bit of research into our foreign
policies and actions back to the century's change, in the
interest of relying on history as my guide into possible plans
by Trump, et al. What I've read lately has considerably
reduced my reliance on history as "past is prologue", a very
fogged up rear view mirror at best.  The most basic themes
still obtain, verified by thousands of years of conquest,
occupation and assimilation around the world in worrying,
wearing and wearying repetition, without the new approaches
we need to craft a better, more stable world.

So, what, pray tell, is next? --War with Mexico (-again)?
Ill-advised, ill-considered, ill-prepared re-deployments of
our military along with fresh troops to distant shores we have
precious little knowledge of? Previous administrations, far better
prepared than the current incarnation, grappled with long-
standing issues abroad--and failed to resolve them.

Hubris and denial, fueled by ignorance, propel our
foreign policy of late. I shudder to think what is on
the road ahead; even the foggy mirror has warnings
enough to alert us to the urgent need for innovation.