Whitney's Foreign Policy Views in brief

Not that 24 is the best impetus for a serious political discussion, but last week it served as decent fodder for a hearty foreign policy debate over at my other blogging site YeahRight.

A few years ago, I was a solid Texan Conservative - a hawk and fan of my 2nd amendment rights. As time passes, I've grown more conservative in my views on the use of force - as in we should conservatively use force.

After all, what is a just war? I used to try and teach this stuff to my high schoolers - not easy. When you start to talk about these criteria, you see how subjective all of these terms and circumstances are. The only thing that is definitive to me is whether or not your country, land, people, or your military has been attacked.

If a country has been attacked, they have the right to act to protect itself from anymore immediate threats, but the key term is immediate.

I don't buy war and force as a deterrant. The most preventative and productive action is truly productive action - economic activity and diplomatic/cultural exchanges. In the long run, I have full faith that open borders and open markets are the best way to peace, prosperity, and overall protection of both the interests of a country as well as the quality of life of individuals. The use of force is too easily seen as aggressive and imperialistic rather than reasonable and defensive. We're more likely to provoke further terrorists and destruction via our use of force so it should be a last resort.

But probably the biggest reason I'm against military force is because it's a destructive use of resources as opposed to a productive economy activity. Wars are costly due to lives lost but also due to misplaced human and capital resources. I'm definitely for maintaining a large and impressive standing army and defenses, but wars give the military state a reasonably good chance to write themselves a blank check on our country's future.