This minority has also benefited in the face of, and perhaps also by creating, the global problems it now deplores. This is a tall order, to put it charitably. It is too bad Smedley Butler is dead, because he might have been able to help Mr. Ignatius think more carefully through some of the possibilities that are undoubtedly associated with a starting point based on narrow coalitions of powerful governments and businesses operating according to their own rules. In 1933, General Butler gave a speech that bears re-reading before jumping on this bandwagon. His wisdom might help us understand how a few global glitterati in the back room might be tempted to organize the real world's economic affairs.
War is just a racket.
A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses. I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight.