Max Boot Max Boot ( born September 12 , 1969 ) is an American author , consultant , editorial ist , lecturer , and military historian . He has been a prominent advocate for American power . He once described his ideas as " American might to promote American ideals . " He self - identifies as a conservative , once joking that " I grew up in the 1980s , when conservatism was cool " . Boot worked as a writer and editor for " Christian Science Monitor " and then for " The Wall Street Journal " in the 1990s . He is now Jeane J . Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations . He has written for numerous publications such as " The Weekly Standard " , " The Los Angeles Times " , and " The New York Times " , and he has also authored well - reviewed and best - selling books of military history . Personal life . Boot was born in Moscow . His parents , both Russian Jews , later emigrated from the Soviet Union to Los Angeles , where he was raised . Boot was educated at the University of California , Berkeley ( BA , History , 1991 ) and Yale University ( MA , Diplomatic History , 1992 ) . He started his journalistic career writing columns for the Berkeley student newspaper " The Daily Californian " . He later stated that he believes he is the only conservative writer in that paper ' s history . Boot and his family currently live in the New York area . Career . Boot is the Jeane J . Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations , a contributing editor to " The Weekly Standard " and the " Los Angeles Times " , and a regular contributor to other publications such as " The Wall Street Journal " , " The Washington Post " and " The New York Times " . He blogs for " Commentary Magazine " on its page " Contentions " . He serves as a consultant to the U . S . military and as a regular lecturer at U . S . military institutions such as the Army War College and the Command and General Staff College . Boot worked as a writer and editor for " The Christian Science Monitor " from 1992 to 1994 . He moved to " The Wall Street Journal " for the next eight years . He wrote an investigative column called ' Rule of Law ' about legal issues . After a short , four - year career with the column , he rose to the head position of the " Journal ' s " editorial board . In the middle of his career with the " Journal " , Boot wrote " Out of Order " , a critique of the American legal system for overreaching published by Basic Books in 1998 . He highlighted the Supreme Court cases of " Brown v . Board of Education " ( 1954 ) , which he labeled the ' Magna Carta ' of judicial activism , and " Romer v . Evans " ( 1996 ) as key examples , although he stated that he agreed with " Brown ' s " result while opposing its reasoning . Boot wrote that judges have no authority to legislate or execute laws and are particularly ill - equipped to do so because of their lack of expertise in those policy questions . He stated that judges have unfairly expanded their domains for greater fame and influence , without regard for the wider socio - economic issues effected . " The Washington Post " praised the book , and " The Washington Times " also did so . " Commentary " ran a mixed review by Andrew C . McCarthy that described the book as a polemical " stream of vitriol " and supporting some of its recommendations while panning others . Boot left the " Journal " in 2002 , and he then joined the Council of Foreign Relations . He became a ' Jeane J . Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow ' with the group . His writings with the Council appeared in several publications such as " The New York Post " , " The Times " , " Financial Times " , and " International Herald Tribune " in 2002 . Boot wrote " Savage Wars of Peace " , a study of small wars in American history , with Basic Books in 2002 . The title came from Kipling ' s poem ' White Man ' s Burden ' . James A . Russell in " Journal of Cold War Studies " criticized the book , saying that " Boot did none of the critical research , and thus the inferences he draws from his uncritical rendition of history are essentially meaningless . " Benjamin Schwarz argued in " The New York Times " that Boot asked the U . S . military to do a " nearly impossible task " , and he criticized the book as " unrevealing " . Victor Davis Hanson in History News Network gave a positive review , saying that " Boot ' s well - written narrative is not only fascinating reading , but didactic as well " . Robert M . Cassidy in " Military Review " labeled it " extraordinary " . Boot ' s book also won the 2003 General Wallace M . Greene Jr . Award from the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation as the best non - fiction book recently published pertaining to Marine Corps history . Boot wrote numerous articles with the Council in 2003 and in 2004 . The World Affairs Councils of America named Boot one of “ the 500 most influential people in the United States in the field of foreign policy " in 2004 . He also worked as member of the Project for the New American Century ( PNAC ) in 2004 . Boot ' s writings with the Council continued to appear in the media in 2005 and in 2006 . He published his most recent work " War Made New " , an analysis of revolutions in military technology since 1500 , in 2006 . The book ' s central thesis is that a military succeeds when it has the dynamic , forward - looking structures and administration in place to exploit new technologies . It concludes that the U . S . military may lose its edge if it does not become flatter , less bureaucratic , and more decentralized . The book received praise from Josiah Bunting III in " The New York Times " , who called it " unusual and magisterial " , and criticism from Martin Sieffin in " The American Conservative " , who called it " remarkably superficial " . Boot wrote many more articles with the Council in 2007 , and he received the Eric Breindel Award for Excellence in Opinion Journalism that year . In an April 2007 episode of " Think Tank with Ben Wattenberg " , Boot stated that he " used to be a journalist " and that he currently views himself purely as a military historian . Boot served as a foreign policy adviser to Senator John McCain in his 2008 United States presidential election bid . He stated in an editorial in " World Affairs Journal " that he saw strong parallels between Theodore Roosevelt and McCain . Boot continued to write for the Council in several publications in 2008 and 2009 . Boot appeared on the PBS public affairs program " Charlie Rose " alongside war correspondent Julian Barnes of " The Wall St . Journal " on August 3 , 2010 . During Rose ' s interview , Boot praised President Obama ' s decision to appoint General David Petraeus as the ground commander of the Afghanistan campaign , and he said that the conflict is winnable . He also mentioned that he has served as a civilian adviser to both Petraeus and his predecessor Stanley McChrystal , with fellow civilians Fred Kagan and Stephen Biddle . Boot wrote for the Council through 2010 and 2011 for various publications such as " Newsweek , The Boston Globe , The New York Times , " and " The Weekly Standard " among others . He particularly argued that President Obama ' s health care plans made maintaining the U . S . ' superpower status harder , that withdrawal of U . S . troops from Iraq occurred prematurely while making another war there more likely , and that the initial U . S . victory in Afghanistan had been undone by government complacency though forces could still pull off a victory . He also wrote criticizing planned in both the U . S . and the U . K . as hurting their national security interests . In September 2012 , Boot co - wrote with Brookings Institution senior fellow Michael Doran a " New York Times " op - ed titled " 5 Reasons to Intervene in Syria Now " , advocating U . S military force to create a countrywide no - fly zone reminiscent of NATO ' s role in the Kosovo War . He stated first and second that " American intervention would diminish Iran ’ s influence in the Arab world " and " a more muscular American policy could keep the conflict from spreading " with " sectarian strife in Lebanon and Iraq " . Third , Boot argued that " training and equipping reliable partners within Syria ’ s internal opposition " could help " create a bulwark against extremist groups like Al Qaeda " . He concluded that " American leadership on Syria could improve relations with key allies like Turkey and Qatar " as well as " end a terrible human - rights disaster " . Beliefs . In general , Boot considers himself to be a " natural contrarian " . He credits his economic views to his parent ' s experiences in leaving the Soviet Union . He used to consider himself a social conservative , but he moderated his views over time . He opposes banning abortion and banning human cloning . Boot vigorously supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the 2007 surge . He wrote a " Wall Street Journal " op - ed in April 2011 arguing that it is " in America ' s Interest to Stay in Iraq " because " [ h ] aving active bases would allow us to project power and influence in the region . " During the Gaza war , Boot stated that Israel was morally justified to invade the Gaza Strip . However , he also stated that Israel might not be making the right tactical or strategic decision and called its overall situation a " quagmire " . Boot also strongly supported NATO intervention to come to the aid of the Bosniaks in the Yugoslav wars , which he regarded as a just cause for humanitarian reasons . He has criticized President Ronald Reagan ' s decision to pull out of Lebanon after the barracks bombing as well as President Bill Clinton ' s decision to pull out of Somalia after the Battle of Mogadishu , viewing each as signs of American weakness and stepping stones towards the 9 / 11 attacks . Boot dislikes the term " neoconservative " since he believes that it " has entirely lost its original meaning " , but he does not mind being called one . He is " an influential neoconservative author and policy expert as well as a military historian , " according to " The New York Times " . The " Christian Science Monitor " has labeled him a " self - described neocon " . Boot describes his line of foreign policy thinking as " Wilsonian " . He has credited Presidents Theodore Roosevelt , Franklin Roosevelt , Harry Truman , and Ronald Reagan as holding similar views . He has also stated that he believes in American exceptionalism . Boot supports what he calls American imperialism based on nation building and the pursuit of spreading democracy across the non - Western world . He sees this as the only way to prevent another event like the 9 / 11 attacks . He has written , " [ u ] nlike 19th - century European colonialists , we would not aim to impose our rule permanently . Instead . . . occupation would be a temporary expedient to allow the people to get back on their feet " . He advocates creating a formal Department of Peace alongside the current Department of Defense to promote democracy building abroad . He later stated in an interview that he thinks most Americans feel uncomfortable with being called an ' empire ' , but that they would be willing to act like one regardless . He has said that he believes the U . S . must act as a world police agency since " [ t ] here is nobody else out there " . Debates and disputes . Boot published a critique of paleoconservative historian Thomas E . Woods ' book " The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History " in " The Weekly Standard " on February 2005 . Boot labeled Woods ' views as a ' Bizarro World ' given Woods ' support for nullification and the right of secession as well as his opposition to U . S . participation in World War I and II . Boot also criticised Woods for what he saw as ignoring African - Americans ' struggle for civil rights and ignoring the fact that Clinton ' s intervention in the Balkans stopped a potential genocide . Woods responded in " The American Conservative " in March . He cited Thomas Jefferson in support for nullification and he accused Boot of anti - Southern prejudice . Woods also commented , " Since in my judgment Max Boot embodies everything that is wrong with modern conservatism , his opposition is about the best endorsement I could have asked for . " John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt ' s controversial 2007 book " The Israel Lobby and U . S . Foreign Policy " named Boot as a neo - conservative ' pundit ' that represented the Israeli lobby ' s positions , notably within the Council of Foreign Relations . The authors argued that Boot and other figures dishonestly warp American foreign policy away from its national interest . Boot has called their ideas " crazy " . He has also remarked that American activists could not keep President Bill Clinton from pressuring Prime Minister Ehud Barak during the Camp David summit , which he believes belies the idea of a powerful Israeli lobby . In response to the 2011 Libyan civil war , Boot wrote in the " Wall Street Journal " that the United States should send an aircraft carrier with " 34 F / A - 18F Super Hornets and 10 F / A - 18C Hornets along with a full complement of electronic - warfare aircraft " to Libya in order to establish a no - fly zone over that country . In addition , he argued that " It may also be necessary to send arms and Special Forces trainers to support the rebels , " and that inaction would " reduce American power and prestige in ways that will do us incalculable long - term harm . " Replying to Boot ' s arguments , Will Wilkinson of " The Economist " wrote that " there is no question that serious people do not deliberate like this " and that " crediting this sort of keyboard brinkmanship has already done Americans ( and Iraqis and Afghans ) incalculable harm . "