Near the end of a forgettable op-ed on the importance of conservative coalition-building, Peter Berkowitz wrote this:

And in the Middle East and elsewhere, conservatism encourages a vigilant search for opportunities to promote liberty while counseling that our knowledge is limited, our resources scarce and our attention span poor.

It seems to me that conservatism should lead us to recognize that liberty in other countries is not something that we in the U.S. are in much of a position to promote, and it is far from obvious that this ought to be one of our top priorities. Conservatives should understand that liberty is something that has to be won largely by the people who stand to benefit from it, and it has to be something that develops naturally within other societies. To the extent that our government is perceived by those people as an unwelcome or intrusive force in other countries, there are not going to be many opportunities available, and we have to be willing to accept that there may not be a constructive role for the U.S. “in the Middle East and elsewhere.” Certainly, limited knowledge and a lack of resources make it seem even less practical, but it doesn’t follow that it would be wise or prudent to make such an attempt even if our knowledge were extensive and our resources abundant.