Politicians often talk about “morality” in foreign policy as if it were a choice between all or nothing. In fact, there is a vast middle ground between mouthing empty slogans in high-level negotiations — let alone threatening to invade — and doing nothing whatsoever. Many nations do overthrow dictatorships and become more democratic, or at least more open, as a result. ~Anne Applebaum

Many? Well, I can think of two nations that overthrew their dictatorships at least partly as a result of actions taken by a U.S. administration. These were Iran and Nicaragua. What followed was probably not the sort of thing Applebaum meant to hold up as an example. Filipinos, South Koreans and Indonesians have all done likewise, but these changes in regime had far less to do with anything coming from Washington. Spanish democratic government succeeded Franco’s regime following his death. Pinochet stepped down after he lost a plebiscite, and not particularly because of pressure from outside. How many nations actually fit the description Applebaum has given? As it turns out, not very many. When these nations have ended the rule of a dictator, they have done so almost entirely on their own initiative and using their own resources. This is why so many of the “color” revolutions of recent years were so meaningless and transparently so when it came to changing the way their respective countries were governed. To the extent that they were indigenous political movements, they represented merely swapping out one set of oligarchs for another and in several cases continued or intensified the authoritarian habits of the government they replaced. There are enough examples where withdrawing U.S. support from authoritarian regimes has resulted in worse, more abusive government that this should hardly be some guiding principle of our foreign policy. There certainly is something worse than empty rhetoric, and this is taking action to undermine other governments without having any idea of what will take their place or whether the collapse of that regime is, in fact, in the interests of the United States.