It's time to stop the foreign policy crisis intervention cycle

If you feel every time you get up in the morning there’s a new foreign policy crisis facing the nation, you’re not alone.

It can be dizzying how a confrontation in one area of the world is quickly replaced by conflict in another area. Often these seem to happen simultaneously.

Russia’s invasion of the Crimea has now turned into a near-civil war in the Ukraine. Israel invades the Gaza Strip — again — and while there is currently a cease fire, we all know how long those tend to last.

Battling terrorism in Iraq and a civil war in Syria has created the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria — or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — which has unleashed an ultra-extremist, religious-fueled ruthlessness not previously seen. Even China has created a stir by flying its fighter jets dangerously close to our military surveillance flights that are well outside its airspace.

Oh yes, how can we forget the immigration issues along our southern borders. And of course, there’s Afghanistan and if we wait long enough, North Korea or Iran will do something to once again turn our attention their way.

There was a time when international conflicts were not our concern. We followed the isolationist course, remembering the advice of former presidents and statesmen to not get involved in the overseas affairs of others. We limited activities to our own hemisphere, unfortunately not always to the benefit of all.

But then Dec. 7, 1941 happened and we were thrust onto the world stage. After helping win World War II, we found ourselves in the position of given the task of playing the leader in the battle with communism.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union we again moved away from extensive involvement in foreign affairs only to be sucked back in by our modern version of Pearl Harbor — the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

After 12 years of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, the longest military engagement in this country’s history, many Americans are weary of war and leery of additional foreign involvement. We’re also broke and facing difficult financial decisions regarding domestic policy here at home, let alone finding the money to spend fighting wars abroad.

Yet, when conflicts arise, it’s the United States many countries turn to for some sort of action. And there are those at home who don’t feel we are being as responsive, even aggressive, as we should be in these areas of conflict.

Our foreign policy often fluctuates depending upon who is in the White House, who we are dealing with and the degree of our relationship with them. Even our own attitudes change over time and threat.

In an August 2014 Pew Research poll, 39 percent of respondents said America did too much to solve the world’s problems and 31 percent said we did too little. In a November 2013 Pew poll, 51 percent said we did too much while 17 percent said we did too little.

And finally, when we have intervened in world affairs, sometimes we have done good things and sometimes we have only made things worse.

It’s time the people of this country ask some serious questions of ourselves regarding foreign policy. It’s something we can’t leave to the politicians. They are too controlled by the financial influence of those who have high stakes in the foreign affairs game —meaning money.

Do we see ourselves as the world’s cop? If not, who else will step forward? Russia? China? The European Union?

What is our purpose in foreign affairs? To promote, teach or implement democracy? Capitalism? Peace?

Should we be pushing other international organizations such as the United Nations to take a larger role? Or should we abandon them altogether?

Foreign policy will never end, and neither will these questions. But we must end this cycle of crisis intervention, and look at a larger picture.

Let’s reevaluate America’s role in foreign policy.