The Conservative Case Against War

Well worth revisiting these days. Money quote from a bracing piece:

Not merely militarism but war itself is repellent to any orthodox conservative. It is a great uprooter of men and material and a fine destroyer of tradition. The costs of conflict are monumental, the rewards too often minimal. With each falling bomb, international order is torn asunder – contrary to hawkish bombast, war is never fought to maintain or advance an existing order, but always to institute a new one. Bellicosity prompts a disregard for national and popular sovereignty, two important items on the conservative agenda. Randolph Bourne was correct: war is the health of the state, and true conservatism pictures the state as a necessary but terribly sour pill.

Yes, but sometimes the state must be defended by force and enemies deterred. No conservative should rule out war. But what marks conservatism is extreme prudence in initiating conflict, a principle I foolishly rushed past in the wake of 9/11.

(Photo: Wissam Alokaili/AFP/Getty.)