Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. Benjamin Franklin

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Liberal Imperialism's new clothes

By Phil Leech     

Middle East Monitor - Wednesday, 26 March 2014

The international crisis in Ukraine and the devastating tragedy that is the on-going Syrian Civil War have not only divided the world along lines reminiscent of the Cold War, they have also inspired an ideological debate among politicians, academics and policy wonks over how 'the west' should respond. One element of this is that - despite its discrediting by the shambles of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars - advocates of liberal imperialism apparently wish to give it another shot. It would be wiser to confine it to the dustbin of history.

Michael Ignatieff - the unsuccessful leader of Canada's Liberal Party and a prominent public intellectual - articulated what contemporary liberal imperialism represents in a recent op-ed for the New York Times, separating himself from the prevailing wisdom that, he claims, represents "fatalism parading as realism and resignation masquerading as prudence".

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