Realism vs. Idealism, Take 37

Henry Kissinger has a worthwhile piece about the "realism" vs. "idealism" debate in today's International Herald Tribune. The key paragraphs, to me, are:

The implementation of the freedom agenda needs to relate the values of the democratic tradition to the historic possibilities of other societies.

We must avoid the danger that a policy focused on our domestic perceptions may generate reactions in other societies rallying around patriotism and leading to a coalition of the resentful against attempts at perceived American hegemony.

A strategy to implement the vision of the freedom agenda needs consensus-building, both domestically and internationally. That will be the test as to whether we are seizing the opportunity for systemic change or participating in an episode.

I also highly recommend Rich Lowry's piece "Reaganism vs. Neo-Reaganism" in the current The National Interest.* He does a nice job of clarifying and disentangling the key arguments in the "neocons" vs. "realists" debate.

* For those who haven't been following it, a new journal under the helm of Francis Fukuyama and the very capable editorship of Adam Garfinkle, The American Interest, will shortly be standing up. You can read about this here and here.