Foreign Relations

Preference for diplomacy over military action should be self-evident, but not for everyone. Some still pine for the days of old when the Dulles brothers waged clandestine wars across the globe to impose the U.S. will on sovereign nations — often installing brutal dictators who would protect our interests at the expense of democratic values and local needs. In hisWeekly Standard magazine, veteran neoconservative activist William Kristol describesleading through diplomacy rather than military might as “feeble execution of our foreign policy.” But we are paying a severe price for Kristol’s prescriptions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we are not trusted in Iran, much of Africa, and Latin America because of the Dulles folly. More military muscle will not help. Others fear a reduction in military action will collapse the economy. After all, every American was raised knowing, without question, that war is good for the economy. Several years ago, I introduced several members of Congress to the concept of peacebuilding. One of them, an old friend, rejected the idea of building a more peaceful world out of hand. “You can’t do that,” he exclaimed. “It will ruin the economy.” He meant it.