Cameron and Self-Flattering Military Interventionism
Interventionists often favor aggressive measures in response to a foreign conflict in large part so that they can make themselves look good or feel better. The pitfalls and risks of military action are beside the point so long as they can say that they are on “the right side of history” (and as long as they can vilify their domestic critics for being on the opposite side). If the intervention later produces worse conditions than the ones that existed before the decision to intervene, interventionists can always find some excuse for why they are not at fault and why their only mistake might have been not doing more.