"When you say "our own principles, do you mean the established traditions of how America deals with other countries (or used to deal with other countries), or the principles by which America manages its own citizenry?
We might believe that the ultimate solution to conflict in Mindanao or Afghanistan, Yemen or Somalia, Nigeria or Iraq, is a government that provides equitable inclusion, civil rights, and economic opportunities to all citizens. We might even be right, an the rather abstract sense in which completely aspirational beliefs tend to be right. If we try to act on that belief, we're likely to make quite a mess. I'm not saying that it would be any better to support the status quo or invest ourselves in supporting any given party in these conflicts; that's likely to make quite a mess too. Far better, it seems to me, to stay out of it, and I think that would be very much in accordance with our own principles for managing relations with other countries.
The people selling the stuff don't seem to resent it. Neither do the other people who want the stuff, as long as they can pay for it. Those left behind in the bidding featuring Americans, Chinese, Europeans, etc aren't too happy, but that's hardly "the rest of the world".
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