We've seen this pattern before many times with President Trump. First, he ramps up the pressure to the maximum; then conflict looks to break out any day; then he does a deal in the very last moment on his terms. It's a method he's already applied with North Korea, China, and Hamas to secure ends that benefit the United States while still making compromises to avoid overt action. And it looks like he's trying to do the same to oust Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.

A New Approach?

Given the failed attempts at regime change and nation-building in both Iraq and Afghanistan, a new approach for forwarding the cause of democracy might be appealing to democratic realists (like myself). Though remaining firmly committed to the principles of democracy as a combined moral and strategic necessity against the forces of totalitarianism, we shouldn't kid ourselves into believing that advancing those principles doesn't often require direct confrontation. Action and force against tyrants are often the only route to removing them for good. We are, as Christopher Hitchens once quipped, not "looking for a quiet life for liberalism."