In light of the recent protests in Ukraine, President Obama has not wavered from his 'wary stance' on intervention. Compared to his predecessor, George W. Bush, Obama has certainly taken a more cautious approach to intervening in international conflicts. His aides say that Mr. Obama is 'wary of being proactive in trying to change other societies, convinced that being too public would make the United States the issue and risk provoking a backlash.' Avoiding instability remains his priority. There are also considerations of 'an underlying weariness on the part of the American public after more than a dozen years of war.' In contrast, in 2004, inspired by Ukraine's Orange Revolution, President Bush launched a 'freedom agenda' in an effort to pursue the idealistic goal of 'the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.' In twelve years, all Americans have seen how unrealistic and costly this goal has proven to be.
Now that the government has been ousted in Ukraine, Putin is very alarmed--having started miliatry exercises to the north of Crimea, a region earlier ceded to Ukraine, as a warning not only to the Ukranian rebels, but to the rest of the world as well--should any other nation dare to support Ukraine with military aid. Some might think it is the 'responsibility' of Europe to nuture democracy and support former Soviet satellite states in their struggles for equitable and representative governments.
There are other more dramatic humanitarian crises happening currently, such as Syria, where our lack of intervention has only encouraged the continued slaughter of innocent civilians. The government of Syria has been delaying the destruction of their chemical weapons, promised by President Bashar al-Assad for the end of February.
The old criteria for American intervention in foreign conflicts, moral and humanitarian, and maintenance of our prestige as a defender and midwife to world democracy, seem to be in question. What do you think our role in the world should be? Should we continue being the world's protector? We have already seen the refusal of other Western countries to deal with crises in Rwanda and Kosovo. If we do not take action, who will? Do you think Obama's 'policy of restraint' is a wise one for our country right now? What do you think of the costs of intervention, both monetary and human?
NYT Article
NYT Syria Article
Russian/Crimea Article
Bloomberg Article
Friday Late Night Open Thread
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