so I was sitting in my history of American foreign policy lecture today, and we were being lectured on Thomas Jefferson. We got to the point where he decides to go attack the Barbary pirates in N Africa that were attacking American shipping in the Mediterranean. A couple of interesting points came up that I think can related to today....
The Barbary Pirates were of course, non-state actors, supported by various North African countries.
Before TJ was elected, the Federalists had attempted to appease the pirates by paying them off (which didn't work).
Jefferson went to war because he felt not only was it the way to stop the pirates, but also because it was a matter of principle - defending the principle's of dignity and liberty that America stood for.
After invading Tripoli (where a regime was in power that supported the Pirates) the question became what to do - stay and occupy, or leave? There wasn't a good answer, and the plan wasn't too well thought out either.
After leaving, and after buying off the regime in Tripoli, the attacks continued.
Eventually, only through military force (in this case, Great Britain) were the pirates defeated.
Sound familiar?