Libya and the Power Problem

Watching the international response to the uprising in Libya I can’t help but think of Christopher Preble’s “The Power Problem: How military dominance makes us less safe, less prosperous, and less free.” One of the many themes of that book is that the Americans are constantly facing international pressure to intervene in places that have little or no connection to the security of the United States. He argues that America’s allies free ride off its power by cutting their defence budget and expecting America to fight for their interests.

In the case of Libya you have to wonder why it is in America’s interest to enter into a third war. Libya is nowhere near the USA. Any violence or spill over from the Libyan conflict is not going to touch the United States. There is some concern that there will be a disruption to the global supply of oil, but this is hardly a reason to fight a war. Most likely the disruption will be short term because whoever wins will want to sell oil. If the disruption does become long term then we can rely on international markets to adjust.

If general regional stability is the goal, the better bet would be to fight on the side of Gaddafi. No one knows what sort of government will come out of the rebel forces. There appears to a sibilance of unity and organization, but once the war is won this could easily fall apart. I know very little about the Libyan people or politics, but you don’t have to look far to find historic examples of uprisings leading to decades of tyranny, war, and despair. At least with Gaddafi we know what we are getting (fortunately no one is arguing that we fight on Gaddafi’s side).

The only argument that I could find in favour of American military intervention in Libya is a moral argument. The United States has the power and therefore it has the responsibility. As Mr. Preble points out in his book, this is an extremely dangerous argument. There is no end to the wars that America must fight if we accept that it has a moral responsibility to act as the world’s police or vengeful angel. Blood and treasury is draining out of the United States and at some point America’s leaders are going to have to face the fact that though they have the technical ability, they can no longer afford to fight multiple foreign wars at once.

The problem is that no one else really has the technical ability. If you are wondering why the Arab League and European powers, who are both pushing for the no fly zone, are not taking the lead the answer is simple. They just do not have the capacity to get the job done. In Europe at least, this is because they are too reliant on America’s guarantee of protection to maintain an adequate military. If France wants a no fly zone, then the French should invest the resources needed to enforce the no fly zone, but they don’t because they know they can pressure the United States into doing it for them.

It is difficult for me to oppose US military intervention in this case. The good guys and the bad guys are rarely this clear in a military conflict. My heart is with the Libyan rebels fighting for a better future, but ultimately the United States of American must draw a line. American military might cannot be expected to solve all of the world’s problems.