Economics and similar, for the sleep-deprived
A subtle change has been made to the comments links, so they no longer pop up. Does this in any way help with the problem about comments not appearing on permalinked posts, readers?
Update: seemingly not
Update: Oh yeah!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Further Updates To My Foreign Policy
I wrote this a couple of weeks ago in response to a question. I am quite happy with the way it stacks up.
Q: [in what circumstances would you ever support an intervention or similar littlebitpregnant intervention like a no fly zone]?
I’ve always been clear about this. The set of circumstances in which I’d support intervention are 1) when there is a specific and credible plan to do so that can be reasonably expected to make things better rather than worse and 2) when doing so does not weaken the norms of international law on which we all depend.
I’m even prepared to spell this out in practical terms; since the UN Security Council, with a veto by permanent members, is the decision making body with regard to 2), I am prepared to cede authority to their judgement on 1) as well, even though they screwed up badly by going along with French unilateralism in Rwanda. Like at least half the two million protestors in Hyde Park in 2003, I would even have allowed Blair to have the Iraq War if he could just have got the damn resolution. It is not an impractical or unrealistic position, and the fact that it rules out most actual candidate interventions is a simple and practical consequence of the fact that military intervention is nearly always a bad idea.
Basically, the Nuremberg Conventions with respect to the war crime of aggression. Not just the law, they're a good idea.
this item posted by the management 3/18/2011 04:25:00 PM
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