nonintervention Archives

Libyan Intervention Fraught With Risks

There are many practical reasons why the U.S. military attack on Libya is a bad idea—including that Libya has nothing to do with American vital interests, that helping an unknown opposition is fraught with risks of getting something worse than Moammar Gadhafi, and that the United States was overstretched militarily (already conducting two other wars) … Continue reading

(N)ever Again

Talking about secretaries of defense… Oh, we weren’t? Well, let’s. After all, they’re in the news. Take former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who, on leaving government service—and I hope you don’t mind if I mangle a quote from Gen. Douglas MacArthur here— refused to die, or even fade away. Instead, he penned Known and … Continue reading

Anti-Interventionism: The Left-Wing Tradition

In conversation with a progressive friend of mine the other day, I had occasion to hear a valid criticism of my writing: why, he asked me, do you limit yourself to attacking the left on the war question, why not praise them when they’re doing something right? This is a paraphrase, and not a word … Continue reading

Unrest in Pakistan

“The military is the muscle that protects the ruling elite from the wrath of the people,” said Pakistani political analyst Dr. Mubashir Hassan. “Right now, people are out on the street; blocking roads, attacking railway stations, etc. If you read the papers, it seems as though a general uprising has started all over Pakistan.” Dr. … Continue reading

Time to Move Past Camp David Envy

The most significant problem between the United States and Israel, pace the absurd little flap that developed over Vice President Biden getting blind-sided on a trip to Israel a couple of weeks ago, is that the United states still wants to micromanage an illusory "peace process" that the two entities directly involved in have little … Continue reading

Intervention Begets Insecurity

For years the United States has used military force as a Band-Aid for a wide-range of global problems ranging from the removal of dictators to ensuring access to global trade partners. Yet it’s clear that this has not been successful. For all of the money, time, and lives we have spent to maintain a colossal … Continue reading