Thoughts of a Sort-Of Neo-Con

Hi, my name is Avi, and I was once a neo-con. I still am, sort of.

Hold on, there! Before you start grabbing the tomatoes and the pitchforks and accuse me of enjoying spilling Americans’ blood (for Israel, the Elders, or what-have-you), wrecking civilization or just being in the pay of oil companies, please hear me out first.

I owe the start of my political maturation to two events: the Second Intifada and 9/11. From the first, I became far more knowledgeable about Zionism and the conflict with the Palestinians than I had ever been, obsessively reading books, articles, and websites.

But my growth from 9/11 was of a different order of magnitude. I still remember those days — of terror, confusion, and how the world changed. And I felt then that George W. Bush, now derided as the WORST PRESIDENT EVER, provided an optimistic sort of leadership, one which believed in freedom and fighting evil. These were the days when “the answer to radical Islam is moderate Islam” was everywhere, a bipartisan statement that is quite the counterpoint to present-day cynicism and despair.

This was especially true when it came to Iraq 2003. I didn’t really understand at the time why the US invaded, but the thought of an Arab democracy intrigued me. Every time I saw so many Iraqis go to the polls, I was delighted. Here, then, despite the already growing problems, was a sign of possible hope in a region which most experts assume is doomed.

But something else happened besides my growing faith in spreading democracy and freedom — I started to really learn to be empathetic to the peoples around me. I like to think I wasn’t so bad before, but getting regular news on Iraq, during the Second Intifada, was something else. Suddenly, that monolithic Arab world out to get me was showing other sides of itself, sides I felt drawn to. In some ways, they were dealing with many of the same problems I was.

Experts may have sit and argued about governments, armies, and failed states — I was enraptured by the ordinary Iraqi: the taxi drivers, the brave bloggers, the voters. Seeing them live regular lives despite suicide bombings which killed more than the worst attacks over here, I couldn’t help but root for them, even though I knew that they probably still hated me as an evil occupier/Israeli/Jew.

Over time, that feeling has grown. I’ve learned to love reading about other peoples and their history, good and bad, and wish them the best in freedom and cultivation — all while my conservative and right-wing leanings only deepened. If anyone wants to understand why I am so for Ukraine in its fight against Russia, despite the complex and bloody history Jews and Ukrainians shared over the centuries, Iraq is very much the answer, or at least the catalyst.

Today, I am very much a moderate nationalist who wishes other moderate nationalists well, wherever they may be. Just because the past was sometimes awful doesn’t mean the future has to be; we don’t need to deny the scars or pretend relations will become perfect. The best form of coexistence is simply getting along, after all, and that means you have your fights alongside celebrations.

Which brings us to the Arab Spring and its subsequent collapse into horror and bloodshed. I, too, was mesmerized by the crowds against autocracy. But by then, having learned a bit on the Russian Revolution, I knew that bringing down a tyrant is one thing — replacing him with a lasting, stable system is something else. The side that wins in such situations is usually the one that is the most organized, determined, and powerful, regardless of political leanings, and I knew that the liberal democrats were not even close to the top.

History, sadly, proved me right, and it proved something that a lot of people don’t like to hear: if you want to fight for freedom against organized forces of reaction, it’s not enough to be willing to die for the cause — you need to be willing to kill for it. This was true in the Russian Civil War, where only the national armies in the Baltics and Poland fighting for their freedom managed to repel the Reds, and it’s true in the Middle East. Sadly, as of this writing, the forces of reaction — religious, authoritarian, and otherwise — seem to be winning everywhere.

So where does that leave me? I am still very much an American hegemonist — I believe that American power has on balance done far more good than harm in the world, and all the alternatives to this would be far bloodier and involve more crushing of humanity. But I certainly do not want to see Americans die, and definitely not for nothing. I believe that invasion should be the last resort, and that the US should learn to use the other tools it has more effectively — like deterrence, intelligence operations, and strength projection.

But what of freedom and democracy promotion? Surely I’ve been “cured” of this delusion?

That’s just it — I can’t do that. Don’t get me wrong, I get that there might be cases where “mild” authoritarianism might be preferable right now to the unleashing of mass violence and destruction of the “dark masses” like in Russia or elsewhere. But this is an evil, not a good. I know too much, and care too much about humanity to say that “this is all they can do, those animals/barbarians/low-IQ people/what-have-you.”

Besides, “they aren’t fit for democracy” is a bullshit line that’s been used too many times for very cynical purposes. It was used to deny my fore bearers elementary civil rights. It was no doubt said of all the democracies in post-WWI South, Central, and East Europe which fell even before WWII; yet the same peoples save Russia are now running thriving and boisterous democracies. It was repeatedly said of Africa, yet many African countries are now feeling their way towards freedom when just a generation ago there was hardly a democracy anywhere there, even formally.

Will the path be straightforward, without blood or trial? Probably not. But so what? France, long the bastion of Western Civilization, went through several republics and empires. The same is true of the US and countries in Latin America, all of whom endured regime changes and very bloody civil wars.

What about the argument that Islam can’t accommodate to democracy? Not being an expert, I can’t answer that. I do know that religions of all stripes have found ways to accommodate and negotiate with modern life, even when they often conflict. Whether mainstream Muslim thinkers will do so or be able to do so — only time will tell. But I like to hope that they can and will.

So that’s where I am. I support American Hegemony. I support the freedom and flourishing of nations. And I support democracy. Not in its stupid, SJW/WEIRDo variant, but in the classical European liberal conception that once excited the minds of so many. And I am fully aware that getting there, if we ever do, is going to be hard as hell — a path full of compromises, nuances, and complexities.

That’s all.