Syria

I would very much like to receive some articles for the journal on "responsibility to protect" and the growing catastrophe in Syria.  If you have ideas, please submit them to submit@smallwarsjournal.com.

There is a growing clamor for an intervention in Syria from the likes of Anne Marie Slaughter and Steven A. Cook.

At my blog, I question the rosy thinking of those that support a responsibility to protect intervention in Syria:

I absolutely believe that in an ideal, linear, and rose colored world, we have a responsibility to stop the horrific loss of life in Syria.  However, in the real world, the dimensions of what is required to conduct even the "limited" intervention suggested by R2P fans is far greater than what they imagine. ... We all want peace, but it has eluded us since the dawn of time.  If we truly want to intervene, we must make an informed decision that counts the likely costs, rather than relying on facile assumptions and acronym imperatives to drive policy.  If an intervention is to be successful, it must be based on realistic assumptions and get a realistic investment from the get-go.