A poker face would help me play the unlucky deuce for all its strategic value before abandoning it. Unfortunately, morally repugnant and ineffectual describes all too often America's Mid-East involvements within and beyond Iraq. I think, in large part, these policies have been pursued because we have simply been shortsighted. A temporary strategic advantage is meaningless if, in the process, we create a monster or, even worse, a brutally powerful and intelligent human being. It's not a question of us winning or the Arabs winning.
World society is cooperative, so everyone can win simultaneously.
Everyone benefits from international trade and peace, and, since I believe democracies are more likely to be peaceful, everyone benefits from democracy anywhere. I have always been in favor of a foreign policy in which we protect our interests, in which we win. If we react only to our short-term interests, this means constant squabbling over this or that resource. But if we act informed by a long-range vision, there is no reason we cannot share a victory with the other 5.8 billion people on the planet. Write us a letter.