Broadly speaking, while all libertarians are suspicious of a national government intervening in the internal affairs of other nations, some hold that such intervention can never be justified, while others consider that the world is now so interconnected that especially bad conditions in another nation will eventually impact at home, thus making intervention necessary (on rare occasions) to the national government's role in national defense.
Others also argue that since the primary duty of a state is to prevent people from depriving others of their freedom, a state should step in—where reasonably possible and not to the detriment of its citizens—to rectify situations resulting from another state not having performed this duty for its own citizens. Some libertarians who reject nationalism claim that a libertarian state should protect the freedoms of all people, even those that do not live within its borders. Both of these groups advocate intervention to promote liberty when there is no reasonable chance that a government compatible with libertarianism could arise internally.
One specific example of foreign involvement that is especially controversial is Israel. According to Free Radical, "Some libertarians believe it deserves all the financial support it gets. Other libertarians believe that [Arabs] wouldn’t hate us enough to strap bombs if it weren’t for our outspoken support of Israel and presence in the region." The Ayn Rand Institute, though not libertarian itself, is very influential in libertarian thought, and supports Israel[1]. The paleolibertarian LewRockwell.com opposes U.S. support for Israel and intervention in the region in general.[2]
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Last updated: 05-23-2005 05:50:46
