The Two Factions

There are two factions within the Republican Party in regards to foreign policy. One faction consists of the realist/isolationist wing, whose most famous members are people such as President George H.W. Bush, Brent Scowcroft, and Pat Buchanan. This faction of the party believes that it is prudent (to borrow a term from Bush 41) to maintain the status quo, which helps preserve American national security and economic interests abroad. This led to policies that supported Middle East dictators, who we believed would serve as the lid that kept the bubbling cauldron that was their citizens in check. The reasoning went that a dictator who cooperates with the U.S. is more tolerable than one who is hostile.

The other wing of the party, the one of which I am a part, would immediately state that this policy doesn't work, needing only to allude to 9/11 to point that out. This wing's most popular members are Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. The idealistic wing believes that idealism and realism are one in the same, that spreading freedom and democracy best promotes American interests. Anti-American resentment in the Middle East was only fueled farther by the fact that we supported those who oppressed them. It is no coincidence that the regimes America is most hostile towards also have the most pro-American citizens; Iran for example.

Tyranny only leads to discontent and violence, and the only way the Middle East and other regions will ever be peaceful is if freedom and democracy take hold there. Free societies are peaceful societies and they don't breed and export terror. Realist policies put forth in the name of stability might seem the easiest way to go, but they ignore the fundamental problems and challenges we face. By supporting the oppression of others, we only fuel their hostility and malice towards us.

As the Republicans prepare for '08 and beyond, a fundamental debate within the party will be to which of these two factions leads us. I believe it is essential that we select leaders who stand stride for stride with the beliefs of Reagan and Bush 43, for it is following in the legacy of those two that will make America and the world a better place. The world will never be at peace until every man and woman therein lives in freedom, and it is vital that the Republican Party continues to understand that.