The civil war in Syria and the implications for the United States government’s involvement is hot on the lips of most political analysts these days. The recent chemical attacks on civilians in Syria have ignited military interventionist rhetoric on the part of the Obama administration, but with an overwhelming number of people polled opposing such action, President Obama has decided to let congress vote on allowing limited, targeted military strikes against the Assad regime. These things, though, have a way of sending out ripple effects that often carry unforeseen consequences that last for generations.

For example, George Bush Sr.’s decision to invade Kuwait spawned what would eventually become an extended and global battle with al-Qaida, and from a foreign policy point of view, a limited attack against Syria would largely be symbolic of endorsing Obama’s “red line.” This can cause one or both of the following: Entrenchment in yet another foreign conflict or the ongoing assertion of United States supremacy.

A left-libertarian approach to the above comes in the form of Grant Mincy’s piece “TOL Response: 5 Foreign Policy Problems Libertarians Need to Address.” Since so much of what mainstream media pundits talk about, when it comes to foreign policy, is about what the best reaction to aggression or war ought to be, it is arguably more critical to get to the root of the issue. We need to start thinking less about reaction, and more about long term solutions to making civil war and Empire obsolete.