On Evil’s Abroad and America’s New World Order

As I write, the United States has all but entered into full-scale war in Yugoslavia. Almost forgotten in the current preoccupation with the Balkans is the endemic, smoldering combat being waged by America and its allies with Iraq. Ordinary Americans should be forgiven for their bewilderment as to how their country came to be engaged in these conflicts. We are accustomed to being reminded of U.S. “commitments” in the most diverse and distant corners of the world—from Iraq to Haiti to Korea to Panama. But it’s hard to make systematic sense of when and why particular ones of these “commitments” will be cashed out in the violent application of American arms.

For the left, these “commitments,” and their unpredictable t...