Realism is not so much a doctrine, aspiration, or policy as a sense of how the world works. Properly understood, it does not define U.S. interests narrowly or cynically, dismiss human rights as sissy stuff, or espouse indifference to regimes' internal structure. The essence of realism, rather, is seeing the world as it is, not as we wish it to be. Specifically, realism understands that:
· U.S. influence is a limited resource that needs conservation, and that using it requires leaders to make distasteful trade-offs and to deal with bad guys.
· Because human beings are not easily governable and because chaos is a first-order strategic menace, stability should be a top-tier priority, never a mere afterthought.
· However idealistic its self-image, America has too many status quo interests ever to be a revolutionary power.
· Except in the short run, the American people care more about interests than ideals and will tolerate idealistic adventurism only briefly.
Realism does not imply giving up on democratic reform or noble ambitions. It does imply pursuing revolutionary goals on a geological time scale. The Cold War, a classic instance, spanned five decades. It was counter-revolutionary rather than revolutionary in nature. It was primarily anti-communist, not pro-democratic. And, as conservatives often complained, it was a "let burn" policy toward communism, not a policy of extinguishment.
Human rights? Important, of course; that is a lesson that realists have taken on board since President Carter. But human rights are not well served by hostile regimes or by anarchy. In Iraq, where neoconservatives hope to implant a model government, realists would settle for a stable and friendly government that might have to set aside some democratic scruples. Iraq may wind up needing to look like Jordan or Egypt in order not to look like Lebanon in the 1980s, Bosnia in the 1990s, or today's Palestine or Iran.
