Former chief of staff to United States Secretary of State Colin Powell, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, is Distinguished Adjunct Professor of government and public policy at the College of William & Mary where he teaches courses on US national security. He also instructs a senior seminar in the Honors Department at the George Washington University entitled “National Security Decision Making.” Wilkerson serves on the Academic Board of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity. In this interview/discussion concerning recent events in Syria, Wilkerson very cogently puts forth what Justin Raimondo of Antiwar.com has repeatedly described as “Libertarian Realism” as an analytical framework for examining foreign policy decision-making. That doctrine states that there is no foreign policy just domestic politics conducted with foreign props. The famous black comedy satire of politics and show business, Wag the Dog, that ironically premiered the week Matt Drudge broke the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky sex scandal, is perhaps the most outrageous and noted example lodged in the general public’s recollection. But this phenomena is not merely the stuff of Hollywood filmmakers but is a constant theme in the history of foreign relations driven by domestic politics since the earliest days of the Republic.

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