What’s interesting to me in particular of course is the knowledge that a military strike on Iran would be a bad idea, yet I am training to enter the military and learning Farsi.
Curious indeed.
It is an interesting “feature” of our system that it is possible to train to invade a country, but not really possible to train to assist in a local democratic revolution. Wouldn’t it be nice to have some sort of ‘Agency of Regime Change” that Americans can join if they want to help foster democratic revolution in enemy states.
State-supported Al Qaeda for democrats? Cheap shots aside, I understand some claim that some combination of the CIA, USAID, and the National Endowment for Democracy effectively (but perhaps not effectually) act as an agency for regime change. I have no idea how much truth there is in such claims, but it is an interesting idea regardless, for I want freedom for all people, corresponding destruction of all oppressive regimes and celebration of tyrannicide.
As usual I think a government program is a particularly ineffectual and particularly dangerous means to pursue these ends. If the U.S. did have an explicit “Agency of Regime Change” how do you think targeted regimes would respond?
I think it is possible to dedicate oneself to spreading freedom, including encouragement of regime change, without joining a government program. Two people who inspire me (working completely aboveground and presumably with no explicit regime change agenda) are Tom Palmer and Ethan Zuckerman. Tactics more directly aimed at regime change are easy to imagine. Start a NGO.