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Global “Policing” Is a Recipe for Chaos

Stephens' notion of global "policing" amounts to a pretext for regime change with no concern for what takes the place of the deposed government.

Bret Stephens confirms that his idea of global “policing” involves wrecking whole countries with no attempt to repair the damage:

One of the points I make in the book is this idea that we get from Colin Powell that there is a “Pottery Barn Rule” in foreign policy — you know, “You break it, you fix it…” That should not be a rule for the United States [bold mine-DL].

America does not have some kind of moral responsibility for fixing other societies.

It might be true that the U.S. doesn’t have a responsibility to fix other societies’ problems, but it does assume a responsibility for restoring order when it overthrows another government and plunges a country into anarchy. That’s the point of the “you break it, you buy it” rule. The rule doesn’t require the U.S. to intervene in order to repair damage caused by others, but it does imply that the damage that the U.S. causes is the responsibility of the U.S. It is telling that Stephens misunderstands the rule, and it is even more significant that he rejects the idea that the U.S. is responsible for what it does. Stephens’ notion of global “policing” amounts to a pretext for regime change with no concern for what takes the place of the deposed government. Needless to say, this has nothing to do with shoring up international order. If taken seriously, it would be a recipe for chaos wherever the U.S. intervened.

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