Of course octogenarian Donald Kagan is pessimistic: he thinks that statecraft requires a perpetual military posture:
Also don’t forget, says Mr. Kagan, “unsubtle Christianity” and its strong strain of pacifism. “Who else has a religion filled with the notion ‘turn the other cheek’?” he asks. “Who ever heard of such a thing?! If you’re gonna turn the other cheek, go home. Give up the ball.”
….With the end of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the U.S. is slashing defense again. “We do it every time,” Mr. Kagan says. “Failing to understand the most elementary childish fact, which is: If you don’t want trouble with somebody else, be sure he has something to be afraid of.”
Kagan thinks we’ve not stayed long enough, or hard enough – but there are few American takers for costly, perpetual war, and America is better off without more such advocates.
Via The Weekend Interview with Donald Kagan: ‘Democracy May Have Had Its Day’ – WSJ.com.