Editing Max Boot (section)

==Political beliefs==
Boot considers himself to be a "natural [[contrarian]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people3/Boot/boot-con1.html|title=Conversation with Max Boot, p. 1 of 7|website=globetrotter.berkeley.edu|access-date=January 22, 2008|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224201854/http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people3/Boot/boot-con1.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> He identifies as a [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]], once joking that "I grew up in the 1980s, when conservatism was cool".<ref name=heck>{{cite news |first=Max |last=Boot |title=What the Heck Is a 'Neocon'?  |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB104121045871745553 |department=Opinion |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=December 30, 2002 |access-date=December 28, 2017}}</ref> He is in favor of [[limited government]] at home and American leadership abroad,<ref name=LAT/> believing America should be "the [[Pax Americana|world's policeman]]".<ref>Max Boot, "Does America Need an Empire?" Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz Memorial Lecture at UC Berkeley, March 12, 2003</ref>

Boot was one of the earliest proponents of the [[Iraq War|US invasion and occupation of Iraq]].<ref name="weeklystandard-iraq"/> In October 2001, in an article titled "The Case for American Empire", he proposed that the United States must greatly increase its military engagement against other countries and compared his proposal to [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|invade Afghanistan]] and [[Iraq]] with the American role in defeating [[Nazi Germany]]. He wrote:<ref name="weeklystandard-iraq">{{Cite web|url=https://www.weeklystandard.com/max-boot/the-case-for-american-empire|title=The Case for American Empire|last=Boot|first=Max|date=October 15, 2001|work=The Weekly Standard |publisher=Washington Examiner |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526073157/https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/the-case-for-american-empire |archive-date=May 26, 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QQAhDAAAQBAJ&q=max+boot+The+Case+for+American+Empire+Once+Afghanistan+has+been+dealt+with&pg=PA45|title=Ex-Neocon: Dispatches from the Post 9/11 Ideological Wars|last=McConnell|first=Scott|date=January 15, 2016|publisher=Algora Publishing| isbn=978-1628941951}}</ref>

<blockquote>Once Afghanistan has been dealt with, America should turn its attention to Iraq ... Once we have deposed [[Saddam Hussein|Saddam]], we can impose an American-led, international regency in [[Baghdad]], to go along with the one in [[Kabul]] ... It is a matter of self-defense: [Saddam] is currently working to acquire [[weapons of mass destruction]] that he or his confederates will unleash against America ... To turn Iraq into a beacon of hope for the oppressed peoples of the Middle East ... This could be the chance to right the scales, to establish the first [[Arab democracy]], and to show the Arab people that America is committed to freedom for them.</blockquote>

Boot is a strong supporter of [[Israel]] and opposed the dismantling of [[Israeli settlement]]s in the occupied [[West Bank]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Gaza pullout to test belief that settlers at root of strife |url=https://www.deseret.com/2005/8/21/19907879/gaza-pullout-to-test-belief-that-settlers-at-root-of-strife |work=Deseret News |date=August 21, 2005}}</ref><ref name="boot-atlantic"/> He wrote in 2008 that "the reason Israelis aren't dismantling the settlements (and that [[George W. Bush|President Bush]] isn't pressing them to do so) has nothing to do with the views of American Jewish groups and everything to do with the dismal record of recent Israeli concessions in southern Lebanon and the [[Gaza Strip]]. In both cases (as well as at the [[Camp David]] negotiations in 2000) Israelis thought that territorial concessions would lead to peace. Instead they led to the empowerment of terrorists."<ref name="boot-atlantic">{{cite news |title=Max Boot, Palestinian?|first=Jeffrey|last=Goldberg |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2008/05/max-boot-palestinian/8337/ |work=The Atlantic |date=May 21, 2008}}</ref> In 2017 Boot supported President Trump's controversial decision to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem: "he got this one right. My only complaint is that this move is more symbolic than substantive".<ref>Max Boot, "[https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-boot-jerusalem-un-trump-20171222-story.html Trump is right about Jerusalem, but that's not the help Israel needs]", Los Angeles Times, December 22, 2017</ref> In January 2024, he criticized South Africa's [[South Africa v. Israel (Genocide Convention)|ICJ genocide case against Israel]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Boot |first1=Max |title=South Africa's false charges of Israeli "genocide" carry a heavy price |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/15/israel-south-africa-genocide-charge-unjustified/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=January 15, 2024}}</ref>

In 2011, Boot supported the [[NATO]]-led [[2011 military intervention in Libya|military intervention in Libya]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Obama's Step Forward on Libya |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303661904576451913355531024 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=July 19, 2011 |first1=Max |last1=Boot |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In 2015 and 2016, Boot was a campaign advisor to [[Marco Rubio]] for the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 United States presidential primaries]]<ref>{{cite news |last=Norton |first=Ben |title=Hard-line right-wing war hawk Max Boot applauds Hillary Clinton in op-ed |url=https://www.salon.com/2016/05/09/hard_line_right_wing_war_hawk_max_boot_applauds_hillary_clinton_in_op_ed/ |work=Salon |date=9 May 2016 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Neiwert |first1=David|author-link=David Neiwert |title=Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump| title-link=Alt-America |date=2017 |publisher=[[Verso Books]] |location=Brooklyn, NY |isbn=9781786634238 |page=362}}</ref> and strongly opposed [[Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016|Trump's 2016 presidential candidacy]].<ref name=LAT>{{Citation |url=http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-boot-republicans-in-exile-20160508-story.html|title=The Republican Party is dead|last=Boot|first=Max|date=May 8, 2016|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=July 20, 2016}}</ref> Boot said in March 2016 that he would "sooner vote for [[Josef Stalin]] than he would vote for [[Donald Trump]]".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Burns |first=Alex |date=March 2, 2016 |title=Anti-Trump Republicans Call for a Third-Party Option |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/03/us/politics/anti-donald-trump-republicans-call-for-a-third-party-option.html |access-date=October 17, 2018}}</ref> In August 2016, after Trump won the presidential nomination, he became highly critical of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]<ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/01/opinion/how-the-stupid-party-created-donald-trump.html|title=How the stupid party created Donald Trump|last=Boot|first=Max|date=August 1, 2016|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 19, 2016}}</ref> and endorsed [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] candidate [[Hillary Clinton]] in the [[2016 U.S. presidential election]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/06/30/heres-the-growing-list-of-big-name-republicans-supporting-hillary-clinton/ |title=78 Republican politicians, donors and officials who are supporting Hillary Clinton |first=Aaron |last=Blake |date=November 7, 2016 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=January 20, 2019 }}</ref> Boot was critical of the nomination of [[Rex Tillerson]] to the position of [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]], believing him to be problematically pro-Russian, and subsequently called on Tillerson to resign.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/23/time-is-up-on-rex-tillerson/ |work=[[Foreign Policy]] |quote=Having proved a failure at every aspect of being secretary of state, he should do the country a favor and resign. |first=Max |last=Boot |date=August 23, 2017 |title=Time Is Up on Rex Tillerson |access-date=August 25, 2017}}</ref>

In an opinion piece for ''[[Foreign Policy]]'' in September 2017, Boot outlined his political views as follows: "I am [[socially liberal]]: I am pro-[[gay rights|LGBTQ rights]], [[pro-abortion]] rights, pro-immigration. I am [[fiscally conservative]]: I think we need to reduce the [[deficit spending|deficit]] and get [[entitlement spending]] under control. I am [[environmentalism|pro-environment]]: I think that [[climate change]] is a major threat that we need to address. I am pro-[[free trade]]: I think we should be concluding new trade treaties rather than pulling out of old ones. I am strong on defense: I think we need to beef up our military to cope with multiple enemies. And I am very much in favor of America acting as a world leader: I believe it is in our own self-interest to promote and defend freedom and [[free market]]s as we have been doing in one form or another since at least 1898."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/09/20/i-would-vote-for-a-sane-donald-trump/|title=I Would Vote for (a Sane) Donald Trump|first=Max|last=Boot|work=[[Foreign Policy]]|date=September 20, 2017|access-date=August 7, 2021}}</ref>

In December 2017, also in ''Foreign Policy'', Boot wrote that recent events—particularly since the 2016 election of Donald Trump as president—had caused him to rethink some of his previous views concerning the existence of [[white privilege]] and [[male privilege]]. "In the last few years, in particular, it has become impossible for me to deny the reality of discrimination, harassment, even violence that [[people of color]] and women continue to experience in modern-day America from a power structure that remains for the most part in the hands of straight, white males. People like me, in other words. Whether I realize it or not, I have benefited from my skin color and my gender—and those of a different gender or sexuality or skin color have suffered because of it."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/12/27/2017-was-the-year-i-learned-about-my-white-privilege/ |title=2017 Was the Year I Learned About My White Privilege |first=Max |last=Boot |date=December 27, 2017 |work=[[Foreign Policy]] |access-date=December 28, 2017 }}</ref>

Boot is a member of the advisory board of [[Renew Democracy Initiative]], a non-partisan organization founded in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rdi.org/our-team/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241213145952/https://rdi.org/our-team/|archive-date=2024-12-13|access-date=2024-12-13|url-status=live|title=Our Team - RDI|publisher=[[Renew Democracy Initiative]]}}</ref>

In March 2019, Boot proposed to retire the [[neoconservative]] label, saying that the term "neocon thinking" is falsely associated with the advocacy of the United States invasion and occupation of Iraq:<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/its-time-to-retire-the-neocon-label/2019/03/13/11cc2714-45a2-11e9-aaf8-4512a6fe3439_story.html|title=It's time to retire the 'neocon' label|last=Boot|first=Max|date=March 14, 2019|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/max-boot-wants-to-retire-neocon-label-why-doesnt-he-stop-using-isolationist|title=Max Boot wants to retire 'neocon' label. Why doesn't he stop using 'isolationist?'|last=Hunter|first=Jack|date=March 15, 2019|work=The Washington Examiner}}</ref>

<blockquote>The misuse of the "neocon" label reached an absurd extreme in a Post op-ed by Rep. [[Ro Khanna]] (D-Calif.), [who wrote:] "I have been consistent of talking about the neocon thinking that led to the Iraq blunder and what followed." That actually isn't much of an improvement, because Khanna is repeating the canard that neocons were responsible for the Iraq War.</blockquote>

Boot is a proponent of [[perpetual war|perpetual deployment]]:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/why-winning-and-losing-are-irrelevant-in-syria-and-afghanistan/|title=Why winning and losing are irrelevant in Syria and Afghanistan|last=Boot|first=Max|date=January 30, 2019|work=Seattle Times}}</ref>

<blockquote> We need to think of these deployments [in Afghanistan and Syria] in much the same way we thought of our [[Indian Wars]], which lasted roughly 300 years (ca. 1600-1890), or as the British thought about their deployment on the [[Military history of the North-West Frontier|North West Frontier]] (today's [[Pakistan-Afghanistan border]]), which lasted 100 years (1840s-1940s). U.S. troops are not undertaking a conventional combat assignment. They are policing the frontiers of the [[Pax Americana]].</blockquote>

In 2018 he argued for the United States to help the [[Syrian Democratic Forces]] establish an 'autonomous zone' in Syria as "this would protect at least a portion of Syrian territory from Russian and Iranian domination and give the United States a strong say in that country's future.<ref>Max Boot, "[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2018/04/02/trump-is-about-to-squander-our-gains-against-the-islamic-state/ Trump might give Iran an incalculable windfall]", ''Washington Post'', April 2, 2018.</ref>

Boot has suggested that if conservative television news channels—[[Fox News Channel]], [[One America News]] and [[Newsmax]]—do not "stop propagating lies", "large [[cable companies]] such as [[Comcast]] and [[Spectrum (TV service)|Charter Spectrum]] need to step in" and "boot" them off, dealing with them "just as we do with foreign [[terrorist group]]s".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/18/trump-couldnt-have-incited-sedition-without-help-fox-news/|title=Trump couldn't have incited sedition without the help of Fox News|last=Boot|first=Max|date=January 18, 2021|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

[[Mark Ames]] of ''[[The Nation]]'',<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/das-boot-unsinkable-warmonger/|title=Das Boot: The Unsinkable Warmonger|last=Ames|first=Mark|date=February 26, 2009|magazine=The Nation|access-date=February 15, 2019|archive-date=April 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430161659/https://www.thenation.com/article/das-boot-unsinkable-warmonger/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Adam Johnson of [[Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fair.org/home/another-warmonger-rewarded-for-being-wrong-on-iraq-war/|title=Another Warmonger Rewarded for Being Wrong on Iraq War|last=Johnson|first=Adam|date=February 1, 2018|website=Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting}}</ref> [[Tucker Carlson]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/why-are-these-professional-war-peddlers-still-around-tucker-carlson-max-boot-bill-kristol/|title=Why Are These Professional War Peddlers Still Around?|last=Carlson|first=Tucker|date=February 15, 2019|work=The American Conservative}}</ref> and [[Glenn Greenwald]]<ref>{{cite tweet|user=ggreenwald|number=1423754892682932224|title=Max Boot works for a newspaper that won a Pulitzer Prize for publishing the top secret documents provided by Edward Snowden. Snowden has done more good for the world than fanatical cowardly warmonger @MaxBoot could accomplish in 1,000 lifetimes. Enjoy your neocons, Dems.|date=August 6, 2021}}</ref> have denounced Boot as a "warmonger".

Boot has argued in favor of increased [[content moderation]] of [[social media]]. When [[Elon Musk]] proposed to [[Acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk|acquire Twitter]], Boot said that he was "frightened by the impact on society and politics" and asserted that "[f]or democracy to survive, we need more content moderation, not less."<ref name="BootFear">{{Cite news |last=Mastrangelo |first=Dominick |date=2022-04-14 |title=Washington Post columnist 'frightened' by prospect of Elon Musk buying Twitter |language=en-US |work=The Hill |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/3267291-washington-post-columnist-frightened-by-prospect-of-elon-musk-buying-twitter/ |access-date=2023-01-22}}</ref><ref name="BootMuskLast">{{Cite news |last=Boot |first=Max |date=2022-04-14 |title=Elon Musk is the last person who should take over Twitter |language=en-US |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/04/14/elon-musk-should-be-last-person-twitter-hostile-takeover/ |access-date=2023-01-22 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>