In the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide and the subsequent refugee crisis and war in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa in the 1990’s, a combination of guilt, economic prosperity, and America’s unique international status led to interventions in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and, unfortunately, Iraq. Today, we are in a completely different cycle, dominated by the ghosts of Iraq, the global economic crisis, and the (relative) decline of the West.
干预的逻辑是周期性循环的。在对卢旺达的种族大屠杀和随之而来的难民危机以及1990年的中非大湖区战争的反思之下，一个愧疚、经济繁荣和美国独特国际地位的结合体引发了对科索沃，阿富汗和伊拉克的干涉，而不幸的是，如今我们正处于一个完全不同的循环周期中，其中占主导地位的是伊拉克事件的阴影，全球经济危机和西方世界地位的（相对）衰落。