Protecting the Innocent

For John, BLUF:  Should we feel free to interfere in the affairs of others?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

Back to City Life this AM, we spent the first hour looking at foreign policy and it centered around the Mediterranean Sea, specifically Armenia, Syria, Turkey and Libya, with excursions to the former Yugoslavia.

Jack Mitchell brought up an issue that should be of concern to all US voters (and their children)—the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect or R2P.  Here is the web site of one organization dedicated to R2P.  Given the propensity of governments to allow ethnic cleansing and genocide, this is an effort to create an international norm that says other nations should step in and put an end to such activities.

People connected with this approach include former Secretary of State Madeline Albright and current US UN Ambassador Susan Rice.  Ms Albright once quipped to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell, regarding intervening against ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia:

What’s the point of you saving this superb military for, Colin, if we can't use it?

The question is, in a world that works, and avoids war, in part due to a concept known as Westphalian Sovereignty, do we want to now go to a world where the big boys get to intervene in the affairs of the little boys, when they don't like the way the little boys play?  And, R2P isn't free.  Our military and civilian deployed personnel will be put at risk.

Regards  —  Cliff