Victor Davis Hanson has some words of wisdom for those who whine about "unilateralism" and "preemption."

Confronting a bully doesn't always work. Like most over simplified analogies this is flawed work.

> Confronting a bully doesn't always work.

Nothing "always" works, but yet we still have to do something about problems and some things work more often than others. Moreover, even if there isn't a solution to a given problem, it's often worth doing something to discourage other trouble makers and/or to increase the cost of being a trouble maker. (I believe the phrase "act locally, think globally" applies.)

I've found that people who point out that a given solution doesn't always work are often more concerned about the solution than the problem.

Dave - is confrontation a bigger/more important/serious problem than bullies?

Does the US' preemption bother you more than Iraq's slaughter of its own people? (Hansen has shown that the precedent has been set, not that that matters as countries always act in their perceived best interests, no matter what the US has done.)

The idea, of course, is not to confront every time, but to do so enough times, and with enough effect, that other bullies decide to leave you alone.

Not just you, but you and your friends (e.g., liberal democracies).

SOME liberal democracies are our friends and we should make an effort to help them. Others aren't - we shouldn't lift a finger on their behalf.

It's a good thing when bully supporters get victimized by said bullies. Interestingly enough, said "not friends" agree with that principle in general, at least when the victims are American.

SOME liberal democracies are our friends and we should make an effort to help them. Others aren't - we shouldn't lift a finger on their behalf.

Hey, it didn't print my punchline! It reads:

Not even the middle finger?

Confronting a bully doesn't always work. Like most over simplified analogies this is flawed work.

Good thing you read the entire piece, Dave. Hanson addresses instances in which pre-emption has failed, and in which both multi-lateralism and uni-lateralism has failed. If you had taken the time to open your mind and read the whole article, maybe you'd have taken more away from it other than "Always attack a bully first."

Dave - is confrontation a bigger/more important/serious problem than bullies?

I'm tempted to use a line of Rand's about wife beating here. Confrontation can be a bigger/more important/serious a problem than bullies, but that's not to say that it is.

Does the US' preemption bother you more than Iraq's slaughter of its own people?

No, but I don't really see it as "preemption" anyway. Preemption of what?

John,

Yes, Hanson does do that. I responded the way I did for a reason. I think his arguments were flawed.