Unintended Consequences

Many times when people set out to accomplish something their actions generate an outcome that was neither foreseen nor desired. The problem might take a long time to manifest itself like in the case of wildlife management. By eliminating or relocating all of the non-human predators of deer over the course of decades, various states have faced growing herd populations (and the problems that come with too many deer). Other times the effect is immediate, such as when a home improvement project goes awry.

On Saturday, 2/24, Iran’s foreign minister said that the U.S. is in no position to fight another war and stressed that negotiations, not threats, are the only way to resolve the issue of Iran’s nuclear program. Granted, I don’t think that states should be in the practice of browbeating other states, even unsavory ones. Ironically, Iran’s boldness is a consequence of the recent U.S. military action in neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq. One could say that by toppling the regimes in those states that had been unfriendly to Iran, the U.S. did Iran a favor. Although Iran’s youth have clamored for change, Iran’s regime seems fairly secure when compared with its neighbors.