What's the biggest foreign policy blunder of all time?

Here's some suggestions to get us going:

The US decision to provoke Russia's invasion of Afghanistan It's hard to think of a plan which, in the long term, turned out so very badly. Whether this mess can be sorted out in our life time looks unlikely, and has helped destabilise the entire planet

The Versaille Treaty which arguably led to the rise of the Nazis and the horrors of the second world war

Western imperialism, the effects of which are still felt in places such as Africa & the Balkans to this day

The Balfour Treaty which led to the creation of Israel and decades of war ever since

These are just suggestions. There are plenty more to choose from.

I'd say the attack on pearl harbour and operation barbarosa were both pretty high on the list.

Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler and Eden's Suez canal fiasco in the mid 50s

[]foreign policy blunders?[/i]

The really silliest ones are usually performed by military dictators like Uganda's Amin invading Tanzania and Saddam invading Iran.

US installing or backing brutal dictatorships in several countries has to be up there. Although these aren't really "blunders", more tactical on behalf of multinational cartels.

Saying that, such a foreign policy might be considered a blunder of hypocritical proportions when a nation's alleged primary objective is to spread freedom and democracy across the world.

The cold war, one massive foreign blunder after another.

yah my dad said that the Cold War was ****, and you know what I believed him.

when it was all over he said it was really bad in the 60s, then it kind of relaxed in the 70s, and then it got really bad again in the 80s before the commies realised they couldn't compete.

yah my dad said that the Cold War was ****, and you know what I believed him.

 

when it was all over he said it was really bad in the 60s, then it kind of relaxed in the 70s, and then it got really bad again in the 80s before the commies realised they couldn't compete.

The cold war wasn't just a big **** up due to the USSR vs USA confrontation. All the proxy wars that the cold war caused helped sow the seeds for many of today's problems. Some very evil and objectionable individuals came to power due to the backing of either the USA and USSR.

Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler and Eden's Suez canal fiasco in the mid 50s

Suez was certainly a fiasco, and a huge diplomatic own goal for France and Britain, but in terms of the outcome did it turn out that badly? France and Britain being weakened internationally as a result and Egypt becoming stronger are not necessarily bad outcomes overall.

Suez was certainly a fiasco, and a huge diplomatic own goal for France and Britain, but in terms of the outcome did it turn out that badly? France and Britain being weakened internationally as a result and Egypt becoming stronger are not necessarily bad outcomes overall.

The part of that war that did most damage to England and France was Eden's secret deal with Israel which resulted in that country attacking Egypt.

This caused widespread hostility throughout the Arab world towards the west and continuing distrust of it's intentions

I'll go with the creation of Israel as the 20th century's biggest blunder.

Or Operation Cyclone where we (Uk ans US) deposed a democratic Govt and put the despot Shah of Iran in control.