Haunted by the Ghost of Woodrow Wilson

[wwolfe]

I'm not an interventionist. I'm not an isolationist. One frustrating aspect of political discussion in America is the tendency for the media and political figures to act as though those are the only two possibilities when it comes to foreign affairs

Comments

[kuzibah]

As E said, each case is different, but I think a general rule of thumb should be that we only intervene as a last resort, and then only with the clear support of our allies.

Unfortunately, Iraq is a bad example to use. The original mission there had nothing to do with "spreading democracy." It was about finding and removing the threat of WMDs (does anybody remember them?) with a strong implication that they had something to do with the 9/11 attacks (they didn't, although it doesn't seem many Americans know that, either...) It was only when it became clear that there WERE no WMDs that the administration and their apologists tried to RetCon the mission into "spreading democracy," "freeing the Iraq people from a brutal dictator," and the ever-popular "war on terror."

Yes, it's horrible that genocides are occuring, but I'm not entirely sure military intervention is the best permanent solution. I think a lot of racial strife is rooted in economic and political issues, and once a group is sufficiently stable, shooting and bombing the neighborhood next door becomes a lot less attractive. We need to find a way to encourage investment in such a way the the poor are lifted economically, but I'm not sure how to do that, or if we even CAN do that.

I'm reading The End of Poverty right now.

[surleigh]

Tackle those very issues, you may be interested in it.

I'll look for it

[kuzibah]

I've pretty much been reading averything I can about the "micro-loans" system that won the Nobel Peace Prize this year. That idea really excites me, both because it isn't charity, per se, and thus preserves the dignity and self-sufficiency of the idividuals, and also because it will eventually become self-sustaining. Teach a man to fish, etc.

Thanks for the rec!

It's very fascinating.

[surleigh]

You may also be interested in Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel, which is more of an explanation of why certain societies flourished and others didn't taking in factors like geography, resources, trade routes and available domesticatable animals.

Re: It's very fascinating.

[kuzibah]

I've heard that's good. I just don't have as much time to read books as I used to. Back issues of the New Yorker, though... :)

Check into kiva.org.

[thecuckoo]

For (I believe) $25, you can start participating in the system yourself.

Thanks

[kuzibah]

I will.