Principles

In Principles for a Self-Directed Society Chapter 3 "Creating a Lasting Peace," I advocate a revised vision of the role of United Nations peacekeeping forces. There and elsewhere I maintain that the United States is not an appropriate arbiter of international disputes: such conflict resolution is solely the responsibility of the United Nations. To this end I advocate a strategy under which, in times of ongoing strife, U.N. forces should be empowered to intervene, using lethal force when necessary; not in support of any particular faction, but simply to do their best to prevent any continuation of the violence. I developed this position as a response to the horror I have felt at the unchecked genocides which have taken place in recent history and which are ongoing in Sudan. The world community’s shameful failure to respond to such terrible incidents calls into question the very notion that we are indeed a "civilized" society.

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Writing Principles for a Self-Directed Society was an ongoing process for a long time. Having sent the book to the printers, I still feel there are more questions that should have been addressed. The most important of these is, what about Afghanistan?

I state in 3.2.3 Defending the Homeland that my other long-term proposals regarding the restructuring of the armed forces cannot be pursued until after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been brought to a conclusion. However, nowhere in the book do I propose a plan for bringing the Afghanistan conflict to a resolution.
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