GOP pre-emptive attack on Susan Rice misfires - USA Today editorial

[reACTIONary]

23. Say what with a stright face?

That nation states pursue the collective self interest of their people? That isn't a very controversial statement. I don't think that you would find much in history to to show otherwise, but if you know of some historical tomb that maintains otherwise, let me know what it is and I'll check it out.

You may mean that the interests that are pursued are selected by an elite, and represent a narrow focus on the elites' own interests. That may be more or less true under various forms of governance and circumstance. Almost all collective decision making involves a hierarchical process that favors some more than others to a greater or lessor extent. This does not mean that the decisions that are made are NOT in the interest of the entire people, even if they may be MORE in the interest of some. That's just the nature of a collective, hierarchical decision making processes. Oh well.

Peace, stability and containment of conflict in the middle east are in our collective self interest, and in the interests of other western industrial democracies. We may not be making the right decisions all the time, and some may make better decisions than others, but the goal is our collective self interest.

I believe that often, when we act in our own interest and the interests we share with other societies like ours, we often also benefit the wider interests of others, even, in a sense, of all mankind. Our actions in Libya were in the pursuit of our own interests - I believe they also benefited the Libyan people and more generally the people of the middle east. I'm glad we were able to help out and I'm glad Gaddafi is gone.