Robert McIlveen lives in Sheffield and is doing his PhD there on the
Conservative Party, its organisation and electoral strategy. He welcomes David Cameron's recent speech on a "liberal conservative" approach to foreign policy.
Liberal interventionism is rather like carbon offsetting: an expensive way to make ourselves feel better about the world. It’s hard not to feel that “something must be done” when we see images of brutality and desperation from around the world on the TV news or on the web. The horrors of Darfur, Congo, Zimbabwe and Burma are undeniable. Yet the idea that invading and freeing the people from repressive regimes is the right thing to do is rarely challenged.
David Cameron’s speech in Berlin provoked an interesting discussion about foreign policy, in particular his rejection of liberal interventionism. The role of scepticism in foreign policy has been neglected by Labour in office with disastrous consequences.
Darfur is important because it underlines exactly what is wrong with the current international system. No-one is in any doubt that, given agreement and the willingness to do it, the Khartoum government could be taken down in a matter of days. The same could be said for Robert Mugabe or the Burmese generals.
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