So, the still relatively new Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is neither a Scowcroftian realist or a Wolfowitzian neoconservative.  This insightful pieceby David Brooks over at the New York Times essentially says he falls in between.  That he makes clear that the US has “worked with tyrants to defeat tyrants” and that such an action is not necessarily hypocritical.  He appears a supporter of democratization but recognizes the long timeframe that may need to transpire before a real democracy can sprout especially in inhospitable soil.

I suppose this may be where I am at.  I think the dreaded neoconservatives held some fundamental principles that we must all hold.  Their desire to infuse morality into foreign policy should be quite commendable, given that cold-headed realists really are of the type that doesn’t care what happens within the confines of another nation so long as an appropriate balance of power in our favor is maintained.  However, as I have said in other postings, it would seem the neoconservatives were more than a little on the naïve side with respect their pushing for immediate gratification.  The Middle East must change both or our security and to represent something better for those that live there, however, snap elections are not the answer.  It seems Gates understands the need for institution building.  

The realistic and moral center would seem to marry principle and power.  Pushing reform always, but always doing so with an eye to knowing the neighborhood and the historical epoch.  America struggles with its almost missionary like zeal and (despite many efforts from transplanted European intellectuals, even admirable ones) will never embrace full realpolitik.  If it does, that’s the tragedy of all tragedies.  My hope is we will find the middle path so we are neither naïve, nor brutally cynical.  We still can do this, we have not yet come to the ultimate fork in the road.  We still can find the right mix without choosing one or the other inalterable paths.  Yet I fear time may be ticking.  If we abdicate our responsibilities and we suffer something like 9/11 again (or, something even worse), I fear that a definite choice will be made and at that point, the American soul will be forever changed to the detriment of the entire world.