“Ten Commandments for Ambitious Foreign Policy Wonks”

Stephen Walt has a version of the Ten Commandments that would probably appeal to Andrew Bacevich. It certainly appeals to me.

#1. Thou Shalt Not Question U.S. Membership in NATO.

#2. Thou Shalt Oppose the Spread of Nuclear Weapons.

#3. Thou Shalt Not Question the Need for a Nuclear Deterrent.

#4. Thou Shalt Not Question the Desirability of American Primacy.
or North Korea, or ....

#5: Thou Shalt Not Call For an Accommodation with Cuba, Iran, or….). #5A: The Chamberlain Corollary: Under no circumstances should one
use the word “appeasement,” except as an accusation directed at ones’ political opponents.

#6: Thou Shalt Not Criticize the Council on Foreign Relations, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, IISS, Brookings, or other major foreign policy institution.

#7: Thou Shalt Not Take the Armed Forces’ Name in Vain.

#8: Thou Shalt Acknowledge the Importance of Human Rights, Democracy, and Other American “Values.”

#9: Thou Shalt Not Question the Right of the United States to Intervene in Other Countries.

#10: Thou Shalt Not Favor Negotiating with “Terrorists.”