Finally someone echoes the point I’ve been making for more than a decade here at The Glittering Eye. In an interview at Bloomberg View historian Sir Max Hastings gives us the following nugget:
And there’s a second point which I think is significant: We too often use the word “peace” to denote the highest good. Yet my hero among British historians, Sir Michael Howard, often makes the point — which Richard Haass echoes — that “stability” should be the key word, that what are really most precious and most likely to save us from getting into another war are stability and predictability. We need statesmen who say what they mean and mean what they say. Our troubles start when they don’t do that.
Stability works in our favor; instability is not in our interest. Why have we been creating instability for the last three decades at least? It’s not working for us. Too many Americans and particularly Americans in positions of power view the U. S. role in the world as Batman roaming the streets of Gotham City looking for supervillains. As if! What we’re actually doing is leaving the Joker and Penguin alone while beating up the penny ante hoods.
There are lots of other gems in the interview including words of wisdom about Russia, commonsense about Israel, and a balanced view of immigration. Read the whole thing.
Instability creates opportunities for enriching a few while pushing the costs onto everyone else. It’s the American way.