View From a Height

Foreign Policy Framework

First of all, Peggy Noonan aside, the President was not immanentizing the eschaton. Islamists have a goal - make the whole world Muslim. Three hundred years ago, as the Heathen Turk retreated from Vienna for the second time, Europe seemed out of reach. Now, ask the Dutch what they think. That our goal won't be achieved in 100 or even 200 years doesn't mean it's not the right one.

In the short term, freedom won't necessarily make Iran less nuclear, but it will change the world. I've always thought that Iran was sort of the Soviet Union of this war, the beacon that Islamists point to, and the country that's most aggressive in pushing Islamism outwards. So if the mullahs end up like living versions of that statue of Dzerzhinsky, game over.

Secondly, the China problem is probably worse than we think. The goal of China's naval capability isn't to use it against us. It's to keep from having to use it against us. Show enough muscle, and the countries in theater will start to think about cutting a deal with them. After all, most of those local trading partners are running surpluses with China.

Finally, there's Latin America. A growing set of left-wing elected leaders, with moral cover from such titans as Chris Dodd and Jimmy Carter, and turning Latin America away from the US, and possibly back towards dictatorship.

I know, I know, one problem at a time. But as Michael Ledeen says, "Faster Please."