Diplomacy and Terrorism

Monday, August 22nd, 2005 10:03 pm by Neal

Diplomacy and Terrorism is the title of Victor Davis Hanson’s latest essay, and the topic is a comparison and contrast between American military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the diplomacy of Western Europe in Gaza, Iran, and North Korea. This essay focuses on Europe’s approach with a discussion on each area. Unlike Iraq and Afghanistan, “the U.S. seems to be staying out of it, and the result will be Europe’s own diplomatic legacy.” Hanson concludes with two extreme-case, exactly opposite scenarios on what these places could become in a few years:

Perhaps a freed Gaza will become something like democratic Turkey. A responsible Iran and the Europeans may hammer out a peaceful partnership. And the North Koreans could put away their weapons and begin reunification with the South. In contrast, Afghanistan and Iraq could descend into even more chaos, confirming the belief of many that imposing American solutions on complex indigenous problems in these countries was a mistake.

Or then again, Gaza, Iran and North Korea may become the fountainheads of deadly misery well beyond their borders. Meanwhile, Iraq and Afghanistan, thanks in large part to the thousands of American soldiers risking their lives to ensure that elections are not derailed, may settle down to enjoy the first constitutional governments in the Middle East – in the manner that democratic Japan, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Taiwan, Eastern Europe, Grenada, Panama and the Balkans are now more stable after American resolve and sacrifices.

Hanson’s analysis, as always, is worth the read.

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