The specter of World War III looms larger than ever.
Just a week ago, Iran launched its largest-ever ballistic missile attack against Israel in what has become a multifront battle in the region. The grinding war of attrition in Ukraine rages on, with over a million people killed or injured since Russia’s invasion in 2022. China has been attacking Philippine and Vietnamese vessels in international waters with impunity.
The question is: What should America do about it?
On Wednesday evening, more than 800 people packed into Symphony Space in Manhattan for a Free Press debate about American foreign policy. Bret Stephens and James Kirchick faced off against Matt Taibbi and Lee Fang to hash out the question: Should the U.S. still police the world?
At the beginning of the debate, a whopping 81 percent of the live audience sided with Stephens and Kirchick, voting in favor of a hawkish foreign policy. Throughout the night, there were tense exchanges over past conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam, the virtues of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and whether it is even ethical for journalists to advocate for sending young, working class Americans into conflicts abroad. And though the discourse was heated, it was also civil.
“We force our belief systems upon others at the barrel of a gun. When we act unilaterally and attempt to use the awesome might of the American military and intelligence forces for regime change, we tend to have disastrous results,” Fang said in his opening statement.
“With due respect to European multilateralism, the idea that some condominium of French diplomats working in tandem with our good friends in Moscow and our partners in China is going to solve our security crises is a fantasy. It’s a nice one, but it’s false,” Stephens said later in the night.
By the end of the debate, Taibbi and Fang were able to convince 2 percent of the audience to switch to their side–that the U.S. should not continue to police the world—changing more minds than their opponents—and thus winning the night.
The Free Press is honored to have partnered with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression to present this final installment of The America Debates, a series on the issues that matter most to voters this upcoming election cycle.
For those of you who weren’t able to join us, paid subscribers of The Free Press can watch the full video of the event above. So if you’re not already a paid subscriber, become one today.
our Comments
Use common sense here: disagree, debate, but don't be a .