Peace and prosperity

Ideally, the world would stop fighting and and peaceful trade would take its place. The libertarian dream of the end of nation-states appears to be futile at this point, as the mid-east builds up for more violence and conflict. It's a reality and necessity for America to protect itself. But how, at this point, can we protect ourselves without getting bogged down in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan?

One change we can make after we've left both Iraq and Afghanistan is change our policy about nation-building. I know the administration says it's not nation-building, but whatever they call it, it has to stop. If we are attacked we have to respond, and I'm not averse to strong and devastating reactions to national invasions.

Attempting to find blame for the current mid-east problems is futile at this point, except in discovering mistakes we want to avoid in the future. Islamists in mid-east countries might hate us for past actions, but at some point we have to go forward and try to co-exist. I'm not sure what can be done now about past mistakes except to live and let live. I'm sure that all the mid-east countries have made their fair share of mistakes -- they are hardly models of perfection.

If radicals want to destroy our culture, that's not going to happen, so that's not even a concern except relating to how we defend ourselves from a relatively handful of religious kooks. Presently we're not in any danger of a nation-state attacking us in our country. Our biggest concern is a terrorist attack killing thousands of innocent citizens -- something similar to 9/11.

I think the best policy going forward is to as quickly as possible get out of Iraq and Aghanistan, improve our intelligence without violating the right to privacy, create the best defense system possible, aimed at the new threat of terrorism, then, if we are attacked, respond with devastating force, then leave.

This is a re-statement of what I proposed 7 years ago. We should also close all foreign military bases and announce a policy of miltary isolationism -- open to free trade, but closed to overseas military involvement unless atacked. We should tell other industrialized countries they are responsible for their own defense and the safety in their own regions. We should announce our retirement as global police, and that we are going to concentrate on economic growh and prosperity in a free market economy.

We should withdraw from the UN, because our presence is too destabilizing, and we have been relied on too much financially to support an organization with which we have very few common values. We should warn any belligent nation that if our nation is threatened or attacked, we will respond with force, but, otherwise, we'll mind our business, and business is our business, so anyone who wants to trade goods and services is welcomed.

This change in foreign relations will force the rest of the world to adjust to a peaceful, non-intervening America, and they will adjust. If we concentrate on economic growth and innovation, we'll be able to offer jobs to anyone who wants to come here to work -- we can be one of the major free zones of the world, what we were intended to be.