We Can Still Pursue an Ethical Foreign Policy

The world expects powerful nations to intervene when the vulnerable are attacked. The reckless invasion of Iraq by the US and the UK has since complicated such worthy international goals, writes columnist Adrian Hamilton for “The Independent.” Most US and UK citizens, while opposing the Iraq war, still support intervention for other trouble spots, such as the Darfur region of Sudan. Yet the governments or militias that collude on genocide and other human-rights abuses now point to Iraq as an example for why intervention may cause more harm than good. Hamilton urges that governments rely on military intervention only after satisfying three conditions: an understanding of the target population’s history and politics, international and especially regional cooperation, and practical expectations of what can be accomplished. The international community can accomplish change with encouragement, education and examples rather than brute force. – YaleGlobal