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Foreign policy and libertarianism
Posted by Barbara Branden on 9/14/2004, 2:21am

RANDY BARNETT, noted libertarian author, wrote:


"It appears that there is an assumption on the part of many
libertarian intellectuals that libertarian principles entail a very specific
version of "noninterventionism" in foreign policy.

"I believe that this is a category mistake, and that noninterventionism
(which I favor), and its exact contours, does not follow deductively from
libertarian first principles. In other words, two people holding exactly the
same commitments to libertarian principles can favor radically different
foreign policies. I realize that this is a cryptic observation, but I do
fear that the recent anti war vociferousness of some libertarian
intellectuals, of whom I have the highest regard and respect, may unfairly
tag all libertarians with a very particular set of foreign policy positions
about which even radical libertarians actually differ.

"I confess that my instincts here are driven by the fact that I disagree
sharply with the anti war stance of these libertarians, and they with me,
but I do not believe my libertarian principles, or my commitment to them,
have changed in the slightest. Because I think neither has theirs,
something other than libertarian first principles are at stake."
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