Our international involvement is out of control. Peggy Noonan wrote about this in her column this week. She noted that American foreign policy has become all about the action now, and that the moderation Eisenhower and Reagan used has become a thing of the past. She wrote:

The other night I was with an old Reagan hand who noted that Ronald Reagan broke ground by speaking truth to and about the Soviets, by holding up his hand and saying “Stop,” by taking tough diplomatic actions, by working closely with the Soviets’ great foes, Pope John Paul II and Margaret Thatcher. But he didn’t break ground by literally breaking ground! He didn’t invade Eastern Europe. He was judicious about the use of military might.

Noonan also raised questions about the resources that we’re pouring into Afghanistan in order to win the love and support of their people. We are building up their infrastructure and handing them new clinics and schools. This is great, she wrote, but there are many communities in the U.S. that are starving for these resources as well. For an example, look at the picture of Camden, NJ above. In a political science class the other day, we looked at pictures of technologically savvy Seoul, South Korea. I couldn’t help but ask the same questions. How can we bring about these miracles across the world, but forget our own communities?

The situation is more complicated than that. Our efforts in Afghanistan are arguably helping to bring about a better and safer world for us to live in. But is the Libya mess a part of this effort, or is it a part of this reckless, action-packed foreign policy that American leaders have begun to resort to?

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foreign policy, libya, Peggy Noonan, ronald reagan