| Just a few observations: we are not prepared to garrison all of the states where forcing westernization would produce social and political turmoil, and therefore we encourage, but do not insist upon, democratization. I agree we should do more, I merely point out there are limits. Second, we are the largest economy, and are highly dependent upon foreign trade, including oil. We cannot afford to right off all regimes we disapprove us. Third, we are the only power that can organize for comparative stability, and therefore keep the international system relatively open and relatively peaceable. Thus, we may sometimes feel the need to support, through economic or military aid, powers that are problematic. For example, we tried to balance Iranian aspirations through cooperation with Iraq, until Iraq became too hot to deal with. It is not a science, after all. I do not defend all decisions, I merely say that it is hard to be in the hot seat...... |
